Nvidia, FPT invest US$200 million in AI factory

Nvidia and FPT plan to invest $200 million to set up an AI factory with a supercomputer system using the H100 GPU for research and development.

Leaders of Nvidia and FPT at the ceremony. Source: VGP

At the signing ceremony held today [April 23] in Hanoi, FPT Chairman Truong Gia Binh stated that the $200 million investment aims to expand Vietnam's sovereign cloud computing ecosystem. The AI factory will not manufacture hardware but will operate based on Nvidia's latest technology platform, including application suites and AI development frameworks within AI Enterprise and the GPU H100 Tensor Core graphics chip.

According to Binh, the factory's mission is to enhance AI research and development capabilities, thereby building advanced applications and solutions focused on generative AI (GenAI), autonomous vehicles, and green transformation.

The factory is expected to enhance Vietnam's capacity to provide high-tech AI and cloud solutions on a global scale while also upgrading the country's technology workforce.

"We are committed to making Vietnam a global center for AI development," said Binh.

Meanwhile, Keith Strier, Nvidia's Vice President, stated that AI holds immense potential in improving quality of life and strengthening the economies of all nations by driving innovation in various sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, meteorology, and manufacturing.

Nvidia will help businesses accelerate digital transformation and make an AI powerhouse, he added.

FPT plans to incorporate Nvidia's training content into university and high school curricula to develop high-tech talent. The conglomerate aims to reach at least 30,000 students within five years. At the event, Nvidia announced FPT as a Service Delivery Partner in its network, specializing in providing software, hardware, cloud computing services, and integrated AI solutions based on  Nvidia technology. FPT will focus on the automotive, manufacturing, finance, banking, and insurance sectors.

Overview of the ceremony.

Earlier, on April 22, Keith Strier had a meeting with Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung to reinforce the building and development of Vietnam's semiconductor and AI ecosystem. A source revealed that Nvidia's purpose in Vietnam this time was to survey and work with stakeholders to establish an AI research, development, and training center, install supercomputers, and potentially shift some GPU production for supercomputers to Vietnam.

In December 2023, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited Asia, including Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam, in search of potential partners for Nvidia. Throughout the meetings, he emphasized that Asia had become the world's technology hub, demonstrating a desire to expand the company's operations in the region.

In early April, Budi Arie Setiadi, Minister of Communication of Indonesia, stated that Nvidia was planning to set up a $200 million artificial intelligence center in partnership with telecommunications company Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison. The new facility would be located in the city of Surakarta to strengthen the local telecommunications infrastructure, digital talent, and technical workforce. At that time, Nvidia declined to comment on the information.

Founded in 1993, Nvidia has become a star in the semiconductor industry, with its AI chips continuously in high demand. At the beginning of 2022, the company announced the H100, the world's most powerful GPU processor at the time, but analysts criticized the timing of its release as businesses were looking to tighten spending and lay off staff. However, by the end of that year, there was a global frenzy over Nvidia's AI chips, making them scarce. Nvidia's market capitalization increased from $400 billion in January 2023 to $2 trillion earlier this year.