AI giant Nvidia explores Vietnam investment expansion opportunities

U.S. chip and artificial intelligence giant Nvidia says it will consider expanding investment in Vietnam after a high-ranking delegation ends a fact-finding trip to the country.

The possibility was mentioned by Nvidia’s worldwide AI initiatives vice chairman Keigh Strier at a Wednesday meeting with Danang Party Secretary Nguyen Van Quang.

This is the second visit to Vietnam by an Nvidia delegation in four months, after one last December led by chairman and CEO Jensen Huang, Strier noted.

This indicates the firm’s wish to invest and keep commitments made to the Vietnamese government on AI, chips and semiconductor training and development, he said.

Nvidia is implementing several activities in Vietnam with the aim of bringing technology and knowledge for application in Vietnam.

It is time Vietnam made full use of AI for socio-economic development, given its competitive edge in information technology, Strier said.

Danang was keen on hi-tech development, Quang said, noting that a city delegation had visited Silicon Valley, including the Nvidia headquarters, last November.

He said Danang, with high potential in AI, chip and semiconductor development, was proposing special policies to attract tech giants to the city.

Quang added that he expected frank discussions with Nvidia on the latter’s criteria on selecting an investment location. He also hoped for further support for AI training from the firm.

In Hanoi, Strier met with Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and visited the National Innovation Center (NIC).

Nvidia also reached an agreement with tech firm FPT Corp. to invest $200 million in building an AI-propelled factory using Nvidia’s latest technology like H100 Tensor Core graphics processing unit (GPU).

The Nvidia delegation will visit Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s southern economic hub, on Thursday and Friday.

They are scheduled to meet with officials from the Saigon Hi-Tech Park, National University-HCMC, CMC Corporation, and city Chairman Phan Van Mai to discuss semiconductor investments.

CEO Huang had said last year that the firm had already invested about $250 million in Vietnam and regarded the country as an important market.