Qualcomm reportedly launched a new AI R&D centre in Vietnam, which the government hopes will help boost the country’s generative AI research capabilities.
According to the official Vietnam News Service, the AI R&D centre will have facilities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with teams of scientists, researchers, and AI specialists developing generative AI and agentic-AI solutions.
The move follows Qualcomm’s acquisition in April this year of Vietnamese AI research startup MovianAI, the now-former generative AI division of VinAI Application and Research JSC (VinAI) and a part of the Vingroup ecosystem. VinAI specialises in R&D in the areas of generative AI, machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing.
Research at Qualcomm’s new AI R&D centre will focus on applications for things like smartphones, personal computers, extended reality (XR), automotive technology and IoT, the report said.
The AI R&D centre is Qualcomm’s second R&D facility in Vietnam, with the first opening shop in Hanoi in 2020 (which was also Qualcomm’s first research centre in Southeast Asia) with a focus on 5G chipsets and related technologies.
At the launch event in Hanoi, Vietnam’s deputy minister of Science and Technology Le Xuan Dỉnh said the centre would boost Vietnam’s AI research capabilities, help train up skillsets of local AI experts, and contribute to Vietnam’s economic development.
Thieu Phuong Nam, country director of Qualcomm Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, said that Qualcomm’s activities in Vietnam align with the country’s national strategies on AI, semiconductors, and digital transformation.
