The Malaysian government announced the AI Untuk Rakyat programme, which will grant up to 100,000 youths aged 18 to 30 free subscriptions to leading AI software for three months after they complete AI courses on the Rakyat Digital platform [1, 2, 3]. The programme launches on August 31, 2026, coinciding with Malaysia’s Merdeka Day national celebrations [1, 2, 4].
The courses will cover AI Safety, Cyber SAFE cybersecurity, Agentic AI, Generative AI, and Cloud Untuk Rakyat cloud technology, aiming to build foundational AI knowledge among young Malaysians [2, 3, 4]. Participants who finish the courses receive digital accreditation and may earn rewards or tokens to encourage ongoing use of AI tools [1, 5].
Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo emphasized the programme’s focus on awareness, access, and adoption of AI technology, saying, "Knowing that technology exists is not enough. If there is no access, it creates a problem because people know the technology is available but cannot use it. After that, we need to ensure Malaysians actually use the technology. That is where adoption comes in." [1]
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the initiative during the launch of AI Malaysia, a national AI entity, on July 28, 2026, in Cyberjaya [1, 2, 3, 4]. "We want to ensure that the AI Untuk Rakyat programme, which is free of charge, opens on Aug 31. We will launch it on Merdeka Day, and it is expected to benefit 100,000 young people," he said [2]. He also noted, "Only those who successfully complete the AI courses will receive a free three-month subscription to leading AI applications." [6]
The government is finalizing which AI applications will be included in the programme through ongoing negotiations with technology providers [1, 5]. The programme prioritizes Malaysian businesses and industries in its rollout and aims to avoid leaving any segment of the population behind in AI adoption [1, 2, 5, 6].
Youths must complete the required courses to gain access to the free software to ensure they understand responsible use of AI technology [2, 4, 6]. Meanwhile, the AI virtual assistant PMX AI, launched on WhatsApp on July 18, 2026, was recently withdrawn for optimization. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said, "We still are working on optimizing PMX AI. I just tried it myself." [6]
Registration and course enrollment for eligible youths aged 18 to 30 will start on August 31, marking the official rollout of AI Untuk Rakyat [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6].
