Malaysia is set to introduce PMX AI, an AI avatar of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim designed to help citizens access government information and services.
Developed by Malaysian digital infrastructure company Zetrix AI in collaboration with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), the virtual assistant is trained on Anwar’s speeches, writings and government policies, enabling it to respond in a manner that reflects the prime minister’s public communications and policy positions.
According to Anadolu Agency, citing the Prime Minister’s Office, PMX AI is expected to debut in the coming days, making Anwar one of the few world leaders to introduce a digital version of himself for public interaction.
Unlike conventional chatbots, PMX AI has been built as an “agentic” AI system capable of carrying out multi-step tasks with minimal human intervention.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the AI assistant will support conversations in English and Malay, understand regional dialects and colloquial expressions, and help users with a range of government administrative services, including driver’s license renewals, payments, and information on education and employment opportunities.
“AI will transform governance and politics,” Bloomberg quoted Zetrix Group Managing Director TS Wong as saying.
Prime Minister’s Office has produced a promotional video introducing PMX AI, describing it as more than a virtual character, reported by Bloomberg.
“No leader can be everywhere, at every moment. That is the reality,” the narration said. It’s not merely an avatar. It is a digital extension of myself. Ready to listen, assist and serve the people.”
If launched as planned, PMX AI would make Malaysia one of the early countries to adopt AI-powered representations of political leaders for public engagement. Similar technologies have been used elsewhere in different ways, including AI-generated multilingual messages by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, AI-powered multilingual communication by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and an AI avatar used by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during his election campaign to interact with voters.
More recently, U.S. President Donald Trump sparked controversy by sharing an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus Christ.
Malaysia has a federal representative democratic constitutional monarchy system with ‘Yang di-Pertuan Agong’ (King of Malaysia) as head of state and Prime Minister as Head of government. In 2022, Ibrahim was elected as the 10th Prime Minister after a hung parliament in the general elections.
Also Read: Singapore’s Big AI Push: Turn 100000 workers AI Bilingual by 2029
