HANOI (Reuters) – Nvidia (NVDA) and the Vietnamese government will jointly establish an AI research and development center and an AI data center in the Southeast Asian country, under an agreement signed on Thursday.
Nvidia also announced it had acquired healthcare startup VinBrain, a unit of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, but did not provide the amount of the deal.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said during a visit to Hanoi a year ago that the artificial intelligence chipmaker wanted to expand partnerships with Vietnam’s biggest tech companies and help the country train talent to develop AI and digital infrastructure.
In April, Vietnamese technology company FPT announced plans to build a $200 million artificial intelligence factory using Nvidia’s graphics chip and software.
Thursday’s agreement between Nvidia and the Vietnamese government was signed in Hanoi in the presence of Huang and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. They did not give financial details regarding the planned R&D center and data center.
Chinh said AI would boost growth and Vietnam also wanted to use it to develop clean energy.
“We want to conquer not only AI, but also space and the ocean,” Chinh said. “AI will transform the sun, wind and waves into clean energy for us.”
(Reporting by Khanh Vu; editing by Susan Fenton)