Nvidia to Open Vietnam AI Center in Southeast Asia Push

(Bloomberg) -- Nvidia Corporation’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang agreed to open an artificial intelligence research and development center in Vietnam as the company steps up its presence in Southeast Asia.

The project, along with a Viettel Group data center that uses Nvidia technology, will help develop advanced AI in the country, Vietnam’s Investment Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said at a signing ceremony in Hanoi on Thursday. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh was also in attendance.

“Nvidia will advance Vietnam’s AI by building AI infrastructure, growing the number of AI experts in Vietnam and supporting AI startups,” Huang said at a briefing with Dung.

Nvidia will also acquire Vingroup JSC’s AI unit VinBrain, which is “the starting point of a major future design center,” Huang said. VinBrain is a startup whose focus includes applying AI to the medical field, according to its website.

Huang did not give a valuation for the VinBrain acquisition. Vingroup representatives were not immediately available for comment outside normal business hours.

“Today is the birthday of Nvidia Vietnam.” Huang added.

Before coming to Hanoi, Huang met with Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Tuesday and agreed to strengthen cooperation with the country, including help in developing the country’s AI infrastructure. 

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The Nvidia chief executive officer’s regional tour comes as Southeast Asian countries compete for big tech investments to become data center and AI hubs. Damac Group, backed by billionaire developer Hussain Sajwani, plans to invest about $3 billion to build data centers in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand over the next three to five years.

“Nvidia’s support in the AI field will help Vietnam not only achieve its development goals in high-tech industry in general and AI field in particular, but also contribute to boosting the entire Southeast Asia region to become a destination of innovation,” Dung said. 

Last year, Huang told Chinh that Nvidia was eyeing a semiconductor center in Vietnam after investing about $250 million in the nation. In April, the Vietnamese government said Nvidia was reviewing three Vietnam cities – Ho Chi Minh City, Danang and Hanoi – for an AI center.

Vietnam is targeting annual revenue of more than $100 billion from the semiconductor industry by 2050. The government aims to set up three big data centers and three AI centers by 2030, according to a national strategy released in 2021.

“A country’s data should be considered its natural and national resource,” Huang said. “Vietnam should process your own data and transform it into Vietnam AI for your industry and society.”

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