Zetrix expands digital identity, AI ambitions ahead of Nasdaq listing

Malaysia-based firm Zetrix AI is pursuing an approach that links up blockchain, digital identity, and agentic AI as the backbone of digital public infrastructure (DPI) and the global digital economy.

Recently, the company announced a number of wins including progress in its financial figures, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Philippines to develop and operate the country’s blockchain infrastructure.

According to reporting by The Business Times, the agreement designates Zetrix AI’s Layer-1 public blockchain as the foundational protocol for the Philippines’ public blockchain infrastructure. The infrastructure will underpin critical government digital services and allow authorities to issue and verify official credentials using blockchain-based authentication.

The Philippines has been building its digital public infrastructure ecosystem based on a solid MOSIP-based national digital ID system that has so far registered more than 90 million people. The country’s engagement with Zetrix highlights a trend where blockchain technology is being adopted as a foundational layer of DPI, which many countries around the world are currently building.

According to the company, early work will centre on three areas which include enabling cross-border interoperability between the digital identity systems of Malaysia and the Philippines, rolling out blockchain-based credential issuance for Philippine government documents, and supporting trade facilitation.

Zetrix has been operating in the Philippines for nearly a decade, providing digital government services to agencies including the Bureau of Internal Revenue, National Bureau of Investigation, Securities and Exchange Commission, Philippine Ports Authority, and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Apart from the Philippines deal, Zetrix is also working on an AI Avatar project where it has built an AI agent of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim dubbed PMX AI. The avatar was created at the initiative of Anwar’s party, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), using training data drawn from his public speeches, written works, and the policy record of his government.

Zetrix explains that the project seeks to serve a primarily administrative purpose, aimed at making it easier for Malaysians to navigate government services. It can assist with driver’s license renewals, send payment links, confirm completed transactions, and guide users to the next step. The avatar is expected to be launched soon and it comes ahead of general elections in the country expected in the next two years.

Apart from government applications, Zetrix says it sees agentic AI playing a growing role in commerce and personal task automation, where trusted digital identity will be essential for secure operations.

The emergence of agentic commerce where AI agents autonomously search, evaluate, and transact on behalf of users is gained momentum, with major players like OpenAI, Mastercard, and Visa developing protocols and payment infrastructure for AI-driven shopping.

Zetrix managing group director, Wong Thean Soon is quoted as commenting that as time goes on, AI agents will more and more negotiate, purchase goods, and perform tasks on behalf of individuals and organizations, but these agents must have a trusted digital identity to perform such tasks securely.

As it pursues these projects and ambition, Zetrix says it also has plans of listing its AI unit, AI Foundation Lab, on the Nasdaq stock exchange before this year runs out. Already, the unit has secured private funding from global investors that valued the company at $3 billion, including a 2.5 percent stake purchased by the World Bank’s IFC in February.

The firm hopes for a similar level of market capitalization upon the listing, from which it aims to retain an 85 percent stake in the AI unit.

Article Topics

AI agents  |  cross border identity verification  |  digital identity  |  digital public infrastructure  |  Zetrix