Vietnam is transitioning to artificial intelligence (AI), Phung Viet Thang, Country Director of Business, Marketing, and Communications at Intel Vietnam, said in an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, discussing how businesses are adopting AI and its role in the development of the country’s digital economy.

Thang believes AI will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Vietnam’s digital economy, which is projected to reach US$45 billion this year, according to the e-Conomy SEA 2023 report by Google and Temasek.

“With AI’s remarkable pace of development in recent years, we believe the world is entering a new industrial era,” Thang remarked.

“In this new age, intelligent machines capable of diagnosing diseases or creating art will be omnipresent.”

Role of diverse infrastructure in Vietnam

Thang explained that, much like past industrial revolutions driven by steam, water, and electricity, the rise of AI will be fueled by computational power in data storage and processing. 

He emphasized the importance of computational strength in ensuring the resilience of global information systems and supply chains.

“The widespread deployment of AI depends entirely on the availability and efficiency of computational power,” Thang noted. 

“Therefore, a diverse computational infrastructure is crucial, extending beyond data centers to include personal computers and edge computing devices.”

Thang also highlighted the importance of infrastructure diversity, comparing it to a country not relying solely on one dam for water storage and distribution.

“In the same way, the AI era requires a variety of computational power, derived from ecosystems including data centers, PCs, and edge computing devices,” he said.

Data centers’ significance in AI advancement

While data centers are undeniably at the heart of the AI revolution, Thang underscored their critical role in supporting AI applications, particularly those built on large language models (LLM), which require vast amounts of data for training.

“AI-driven applications, especially those in the realm of generative AI, demand large-scale, high-performance infrastructure with hundreds or thousands of central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), accelerators, and network processors,” he explained.

According to a report by Savills in May 2024, Vietnam’s data center market is expected to grow from $561 million in 2022 to $1.04 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.7 percent.

Phung Viet Thang, Country Director of Business, Marketing, and Communications at Intel Vietnam.

Key factors shaping AI’s future in Vietnam

However, Thang stressed that the successful advancement of AI in Vietnam requires more than just the development of data centers. 

It will also depend on three key factors: economics, geographical distance, and current regulations.

Thang explained that the financial cost of running AI operations via data centers or cloud computing services presents a significant challenge for both local and foreign companies.

“Whether owning, leasing data centers, or utilizing cloud services, organizations must grapple with financial, operational, and management challenges,” he said.

Geographical distance is another important consideration. 

The physical separation between data generation points and data centers can cause latency, impacting the performance of real-time processing applications, such as autonomous vehicles.

Security concerns also play a significant role. 

Not all organizations or countries agree to store their data outside their domestic servers or territories due to privacy and security issues. 

Thang pointed to Vietnam’s 2022 government decree, which mandates that businesses, both domestic and foreign, operating in Vietnam must store data locally.

Choosing the right AI solutions for businesses

Thang also discussed the criteria for selecting the right AI solutions. 

He emphasized the complexity of AI technology and the varied computing requirements depending on each use case.

“To develop AI sustainably, we need to study the most appropriate infrastructure to meet the growing demand for computational power,” he said.

Thang further noted that there is no one-size-fits-all approach in AI infrastructure. 

Each use case requires a tailored solution, and the AI era demands a diverse infrastructure that can provide the right computational power for specific needs.

The evolution of AI in Vietnam, Thang concluded, will rely on building a robust, diversified infrastructure capable of supporting the country’s digital ambitions and helping to drive its economic growth.

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