YTL AI Labs has unveiled ILMUchat, its Malaysian-built AI assistant, marking a major milestone in Malaysia's journey towards sovereign artificial intelligence (AI).

Built and operated entirely in Malaysia, the ILMU Sovereign Intelligence Platform has been trained on local languages and cultural context, enabling it to better understand the country's unique way of communicating. The rollout also significantly expands what users can create with the platform, transforming ILMUchat from a conversational AI assistant into an all-in-one productivity and creativity tool.

**ILMUchat brings ideas to life through four core functions: Chat, Design, Present, and Build.**

According to YTL AI Labs CEO Foong Chee Mun, ILMUchat is specifically optimised to understand how Malaysians naturally communicate. While offering the familiar conversational experience found in leading global AI assistants, it is designed to recognise the nuances of local life, from interpreting "rojak" conversations that blend Bahasa Melayu, English, Chinese, local dialects and Manglish, to understanding Malaysian references and cultural context.

That local understanding is now paired with a broader set of capabilities. Beyond generating and refining text, users can create presentation slides from a simple prompt, design posters and other visual materials, build mini apps and games, and access location-based recommendations through integrated Maps for seamless navigation.

“Everyday productivity has also been streamlined. Users can draft emails, letters, proposals and messages before sending them directly through WhatsApp or email with a single click, making ILMUchat a practical assistant for both work and daily life,” he explained.

**Guests explore the capabilities of ILMUchat at hands-on demonstration booths during Jom ILMUchat**

The new features are designed to serve a wide range of users. Students can instantly turn a syllabus into revision-friendly flashcards, while small businesses can generate promotional materials, posters and menus in minutes. Meanwhile, developers and non-technical users alike can simply describe the digital tool they need in plain language and have ILMUchat help build it, lowering the barrier to creating simple applications without extensive coding knowledge.

Guardrails that prioritise safety, accuracy and Malaysian context
Beyond its language capabilities, Foong explained that ILMUchat is supported by an additional software layer known as a "harness", which governs how the AI interprets questions, generates responses and operates safely.

"While a large language model is trained on vast amounts of internet data, it does not guarantee safe or reliable responses. Before ILMUchat generates an answer, a multi-agent input guardrail analyses the user's intent to identify potentially harmful requests and blocks them before a response is produced.

"The second layer is the output guardrails. Since large language models are trained using information from around the world, their responses naturally reflect a mix of global perspectives. ILMUchat's output guardrails ensure the AI's final responses remain aligned with Malaysian values, local regulations and cultural expectations before they are presented to users," he said.

ILMUchat Basic and Pro plans

Alongside the platform update, YTL AI Labs also introduced ILMUchat's commercial pricing model.

The ILMUchat Basic plan provides free access to the platform's core capabilities, including limited use of premium features such as slide generation, poster creation and app building. Users who require unlimited access to these advanced tools can subscribe to the ILMUchat Pro plan for RM50 per month.

YTL AI Labs partners with Yes to become Malaysia's AI-first telco

**(From left) Mr. Yeoh Keong Ren, Chief Marketing Officer, YTL Communications Sdn Bhd, and Foong Chee Mun, Chief Executive Officer, YTL AI Labs, at the launch of ILMUchat**

To accelerate adoption, YTL AI Labs has partnered with Yes by YTL Communications to make ILMUchat, available to more than three million users nationwide.

All Yes subscribers can now access ILMUchat through a seamless single sign-on (SSO) experience via the MyYes app using their existing login credentials. As an added benefit, every Yes customer will also receive complimentary access to the ILMUchat Pro plan.

"As Malaysia's AI-first telco, Yes is proud to bring every one of our customers into the world of AI. By providing complimentary access to ILMUchat Pro, we are ensuring that millions of Malaysians can benefit from the latest advances in AI, powered by technology developed right here in Malaysia. If you are not a Yes customer yet, you can experience the most advanced network in Malaysia paired with Malaysia's sovereign AI starting from only RM10 with our Yes 5G Advanced prepaid starter pack today," said Wing K. Lee, CEO of YTL Communications.

The partnership signals a broader shift in how AI could become part of everyday digital services. By integrating ILMUchat directly into a telco ecosystem, advanced AI tools become more accessible to ordinary users, students, creators and businesses, bringing Malaysia's homegrown AI closer to everyday life.

ILMUchat is now available on the web, Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and via the MyYes App.