The AI ​​dream, the chip dream.

Dr. Andrew Ng, former leader of Google Brain and one of the world's living legends in artificial intelligence (AI), recently visited Vietnam and signed a strategic cooperation agreement withFPT in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). During the signing ceremony, Mr. Truong Gia Binh, Chairman of FPT, stated that the corporation is "betting on Andrew Ng."

Why is that? Are we being too optimistic in setting our sights on increasing our software sales overseas from the current $1 billion to $5 billion by 2028? Several people have expressed concerns to us regarding resources, including human and financial resources.

Accordingly, Vietnam's semiconductor workforce currently only meets 20% of the demand, and its contribution to the Vietnamese supply chain is admittedly low. While Taiwan only achieved resounding success in semiconductor manufacturing after starting its recruitment policy around the 1970s, is FPT's 35-year target feasible?

Attendees experience virtual reality technology at the FPT Techday 2023 event (Photo: Organizers).

It's true that Vietnam is facing a shortage of semiconductor personnel. Foreign companies that have opened semiconductor chip manufacturing plants in Vietnam, such as Intel, Samsung, Amkor, and Hana Micron, all report shortages, and naturally, Vietnamese companies wanting to enter the semiconductor field also face a labor shortage.

The solution to Vietnam's semiconductor workforce problem is simple, nothing new, just like 20 years ago when we established FPT University with the goal of training software professionals. Two months ago, FPT University officially established the Semiconductor Department, with FPT Semiconductor as the teaching staff and training ground for students. Furthermore, we have invited the world's most renowned semiconductor companies to participate and support the training. FPT has committed to the Prime Minister that we will be responsible for training 15,000 semiconductor engineers for Vietnam.

Is Vietnam's contribution to the semiconductor chip supply chain still low? That's just talking about the semiconductor chip manufacturing plants of FDI enterprises in Vietnam. But if we manufacture our own chips, from designing them ourselves to marketing and selling them globally, like FPT Semiconductor has done, the added value wouldn't be low at all; it would be high!

Therefore, Vietnam's biggest challenge is to have "chips made in Vietnam," to be able to trade them on a large scale, which will naturally lead to higher added value. We must act using our own internal resources, instead of just begging foreign companies to transfer technology and localize production as we have been doing for so long.

Taiwan started in the semiconductor chip field in the 1970s, that's true! But times have changed. While in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, chips were mainly used in computers, televisions, robots, telecommunications equipment, aircraft, and military equipment, now chips are in almost every device around us, from cars, motorcycles, elevators, medical equipment, televisions, refrigerators, cooking stoves, ovens, microwaves, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, pool cleaning machines, door locks, and even house gates, water pumps, garden irrigation systems, pool maintenance systems, personal blood pressure monitors, and diabetes monitors…

This means that the demand for chips is increasing at a very rapid pace. Therefore, opportunities are opening up for everyone, including newcomers to the semiconductor industry, and of course, we don't have to go down the same path that Taiwan took 50 years ago.

So what should Vietnamese businesses do? Of course, the first thing is to train human resources, followed by designing, developing software, and commercializing chips. Don't harbor illusions about immediately entering chip manufacturing. Remember, chip manufacturing is only the final stage, not the stage with the highest added value. Look at Apple, the world's largest phone company in terms of revenue, profit, and market capitalization, yet they don't own any manufacturing plants; they outsource everything! Apple only handles design, software, branding, marketing, sales, and after-sales service.

Regarding investment in AI and chips, it's true that major companies like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are spending billions of dollars annually on AI, and they will undoubtedly spend even more in the future. So, do we have the financial resources to pursue AI in the long term?

I vividly remember a very insightful and interesting quote from General Vo Nguyen Giap about Vietnam's strategy in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu: "If, in 1954, we had fought Dien Bien Phu according to the advice of foreign experts, we would have run out of ammunition in just two days. Therefore, we had to fight our way, and it was precisely because we fought our way that we won."

We, too, continue to cooperate internationally and learn from large corporations, but we must do things our own way. Moreover, we are not competing with Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, or Nvidia. We are going our own way, have our own niche, and the world is big enough for everyone to coexist and thrive.

A week ago, FPT's AI platform (FPT.AI) was honored by the international organization Software Reviews as the best AI platform in the world in 2023. FPT Chatbot has been used and highly appreciated by many customers in Japan, Europe, and Vietnam for its significant benefits in automatically processing customer requests. Furthermore, the order for 70 million IoT chips within just one year of entering the chip industry is the most convincing evidence of this success.

We are dreamers but also very practical, taking decisive action to turn our dreams and aspirations into reality. While our first 35 years focused on high growth (achieving sales exceeding $4 billion, 65,000 employees, and nearly $5 billion in market capitalization), the next phase will focus on world-class products and services, especially artificial intelligence and chips.

Right now, we are dreaming of a day, not too far in the future, when Vietnam will earn $1 billion from exporting AI and chips abroad.

Author: Mr. Do Cao Bao holds a Bachelor's degree in Control Mathematics from the Military Technical Academy; he previously worked at the Operations Department of the General Staff and the Vietnam Academy of Science. Mr. Bao is one of the founding members of FPT Group and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of FPT Corporation.

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