The collaboration between Sarawak and FLock.io trained models on the local language using distributed state hardware.
The Sarawak AI Centre (SAIC) has demonstrated a sovereign AI technique in collaboration with FLock.io, showing that governments can develop AI locally while keeping sensitive data secure.
Sovereign AI refers to a region being in control of its own systems, prioritising local data security and infrastructure, cultural values and regulatory compliance, with less reliance on foreign tech giants. The initiative trained models on the local language using distributed state hardware which includes indigenous languages in Sarawak like Iban and Bidayuh.
The demonstration showed that FL can collaboratively train a model without sharing sensitive data, and that a large model can run efficiently on smaller GPUs instead of relying solely on centralised data centres.
Professor Patrick Then, CEO of Sarawak AI Centre (SAIC), said: “We have so many indigenous languages which are not captured at all in most of these large language models – it’s a huge challenge.” He added: “Now, the vision in the next five years is for Sarawak to be a fully AI nation.”
Launched in 2024, the SAIC is part of the local government’s innovation agenda to transform the region into a developed, high-income and sustainable state by 2030. The project harnessed FLock.io’s FL Alliance platform to become a regional AI leader with net-zero emissions.
Jiahao Sun, CEO of FLock.io, said: “Privacy is non-negotiable in the public sector. Governments hold highly sensitive data: health records, tax history, welfare, police and criminal files. Data breaches can be disastrous. There is significant appetite among governmental bodies – such as in Sarawak – to use data to improve public services through privacy-preserving techniques like federated learning.”
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