Malaysia Revokes Network School License as Balaji Srinivasan Signs 5-Year Kazakhstan Campus Deal
Updated
Updated · Fortune · Jul 26
Malaysia Revokes Network School License as Balaji Srinivasan Signs 5-Year Kazakhstan Campus Deal
3 articles · Updated · Fortune · Jul 26
Summary
July 21-22 brought a rapid pivot: Malaysia shut Network School’s Forest City operation, and a day later Balaji Srinivasan signed an MOU for a new campus in Kazakhstan.
Johor authorities said the school breached business-license and premises-use rules, revoking both its operating and advertising permits after an online furor over alleged Israeli participants.
One dual U.S.-Israel citizen was ordered to leave Malaysia, widening the dispute into a diplomatic issue after the U.S. State Department summoned Malaysia’s ambassador for an explanation.
Network School had grown from a 2024 pilot for about 100 people into a year-long co-living program charging $1,500 a month for lodging, meals and tech-focused events near Singapore.
Kazakhstan, which is courting foreign tech investment and planning a 1-gigawatt data-center campus, said the 5-year pact could support AI research, hackathons and a possible Network State conference.