Expectations of Vietnamese AI startups following Nvidia's commitment.

AI startups believe the field of artificial intelligence in Vietnam can be taken to the next level with support from Nvidia.

At a seminar on semiconductor and artificial intelligence development, organized by the Ministry of Planning and Investment on the morning of December 11th in Hoa Lac, Mr. Jensen Huang, founder of Nvidia, stated that many Vietnamese businesses are currently customers and generate over half a billion USD in annual sales for the company. In the future, Nvidia will increase investment and is committed to making Vietnam "Nvidia's second home".

At the event, many startups developing or applying AI in their operations stated that Nvidia has many advantages when entering Vietnam, while the domestic AI industry can be elevated through this collaboration.

Nvidia founder Jensen Huang (right) is watching a demonstration of a Vietnamese AI product. Photo: Luu Quy — *Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (far right) is reviewing a Vietnamese AI product. Photo: Luu Quy*

Vietnam is a favorable environment for Nvidia.

According to experts, Vietnam has a favorable environment for AI startups to develop. Recounting his seven-year investment in artificial intelligence and his team of nearly 200 AI engineers, Mr. Nguyen Manh Tuong, CEO of MoMo, said the company is also using Nvidia products to serve over 30 million users. He hopes Nvidia will soon build a technology center, making it easier for Vietnamese businesses to access Nvidia's AI solutions and allowing Vietnamese engineers to gain experience at a world-class level.

According to Mr. Truong Quoc Hung, CEO of VinBrain, a company specializing in AI in healthcare , the formula for success in the AI field requires data, computing power, and human resources. Vietnam, with a population of over 100 million, will be a crucial source of data for building AI systems.

Regarding human resources, Mr. Hung assessed that existing training programs can produce a large number of high-quality engineers, instead of requiring them to study abroad as his generation did. Citing the example of the company's products participating in global exhibitions in the healthcare sector, the VinBrain representative affirmed that the quality of Vietnamese personnel can create good products that serve not only Vietnamese people.

Finally, regarding computing power, Mr. Hung stated that VinBrain's products are supporting healthcare for two million people annually, reducing the cost of testing for certain diseases from hundreds of dollars to just two dollars. According to him, this is partly due to the computing power gained through the use of Nvidia products.

According to Cao Anh Tuan, founder of Genetica, a company specializing in gene decoding using artificial intelligence technology, strong government support was the reason his company moved from the US to Vietnam, instead of Singapore as initially planned. After four years, the company has achieved many important milestones, particularly enabling customers in the region, such as Japan and South Korea, to send their pathological samples to Vietnam for analysis without having to send them to the US.

"We have faced numerous challenges, and there will certainly be many more in the next 10 years. But with that support, we believe we will be among the top three artificial intelligence companies in Asia," Mr. Tuan said.

"Vietnam already has many young entrepreneurs and talented people. You should set up an office here soon," the founder of Genetica told Jensen Huang.

Expectations to elevate the AI industry.

Following two working sessions with the CEO of Nvidia, FPT Group Chairman Truong Gia Binh stated that AI, chips, and electronics will be key factors for Vietnam to catch up with advanced countries worldwide. The group is investing heavily in AI and has achieved several successes, such as having products used by millions of people globally, joining the global AI alliance initiated by IBM and Meta, and establishing research strategies with MILA – a leading global AI research institute.

According to Mr. Binh, partnering with Nvidia will help make Vietnam a hub for attracting AI and semiconductor talent from around the world, thereby developing the ecosystem and promoting startups, design, and development of supercomputers.

Mr. Bui Hai Hung, CEO of VinAI, said that the company has achieved several research successes recently, including publishing hundreds of reports in leading AI journals and ranking among the top 20 globally in research capabilities. Last week, the company also announced Pho GPT, an application of a large language model to serve Vietnamese people.

However, according to Mr. Hung, sustainable AI development will require optimizing cost and energy efficiency to create "greener and cleaner" AI. "We are very much looking forward to receiving support from partners like Nvidia," Mr. Hung said.

In addition to collaborating on infrastructure and computing power development, AI experts also expect to improve their workforce through the partnership with Nvidia.

Thang Luong, an expert at Google DeepMind, assesses that Vietnamese people are interested in AI, with tens of thousands using new applications like ChatGPT and Bard immediately upon their launch. According to him, AI will have a significant impact on the technology sector, and Vietnam will also be an important component in AI generation in the region.

"We aim to leverage Nvidia's strengths in AI to advance this field and take Vietnam's AI industry to a new level," Mr. Thang said.

Recalling Nvidia founder Huang's 2018 statement that AI would experience a breakthrough, Thang argued that Nvidia "doesn't need to gamble on the development of the AI industry in Vietnam" this time, as it will have government support and a high-quality workforce.

Listening to the startups' presentations, Jensen Huang assessed that Vietnam has a talented and forward-thinking group of young entrepreneurs and businesses. "They return to Vietnam because they see what I also see, which is Vietnam's opportunity," he said.

According to the founder of Nvidia, AI is a "big and fast wave." Vietnam has the same starting point as the rest of the world, but possesses a unique resource: a team of world-leading scientists and mathematicians.

"If we can ride the big wave, Vietnam will grow, prosper, and have abundant opportunities. I believe we have the ability to do that," he said. "I appreciate the government's vision and commitment to creating conditions for Vietnam to take advantage of this rapid and new wave of AI. I am honored and ready to partner with Vietnam."

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