KUALA LUMPUR, Educational publisher Sasbadi Holdings Bhd has partnered with digital solutions provider Agmo Holdings Bhd (KL:AGMO) to develop Malaysia’s first large language model (LLM) tailored specifically for the education sector.
The collaboration will operate through a joint venture company, Penerbitan Minda Sdn Bhd, under a joint venture and shareholders’ agreement (JVA) signed on Oct 18. Sasbadi’s subsidiary, Sasbadi Online Sdn Bhd, will hold a 55% stake, while Agmo’s wholly owned unit, Agmo Capital Sdn Bhd, will own 45%, according to Bursa Malaysia filings.
The venture aims to create an education-focused LLM to power AI-driven tutoring, adaptive learning platforms, and intelligent content creation tools. Sasbadi brings over 40 years of educational expertise and proprietary content for model training, while Agmo will handle technical development, architecture, and integration using advanced techniques such as natural language processing (NLP) and reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF). The model will align with Malaysia’s national curriculum and provide personalised, bilingual learning experiences for students and educators.
“This partnership marks a significant step in Sasbadi’s digital transformation,” said Sasbadi group managing director Law King Hui. “By combining our education expertise with Agmo’s AI capabilities, we are building a localised LLM that could transform how Malaysians learn and teach.”
Agmo CEO Tan Aik Keong added that the collaboration is expected to drive innovation and create substantial value for the education sector and shareholders. Sasbadi noted that the model could also be adapted in the future for corporate training, language learning, and knowledge management, tapping into the growing EdTech and AI markets in Southeast Asia.
This initiative follows the launch of Ilmu 0.1 by YTL Power International Bhd, a Malaysia-developed LLM that demonstrated strong performance in Bahasa Melayu comprehension, surpassing global models including OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Agmo’s Merdeka-LLM on the Malay MMLU benchmark.
At Tuesday’s market close, Sasbadi shares remained at 15 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM65.42 million, while Agmo shares rose 0.5 sen or 1.18% to 43 sen, valuing the company at RM139.8 million.
