Investment required to exploit AI potential

Investment required to exploit AI potential

Semiconductor production and AI are expected to become strategic drivers for Vietnam’s long-term economic development.

Participants at the 2025 International Conference on AI and Semiconductors in Hanoi pored over the current global trends while outlining how Vietnam can use its potential to turn shortcomings into innovation drivers.

Suresh Venkatarayalu, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Honeywell, said that 6-7 years ago, Honeywell used to engage with semiconductor suppliers through a traditional procurement process. This was how the company made decisions and chose partners. However, the 2020 pandemic changed everything.

“We realised the need for a more efficient approach to managing supply and demand. Over the past two years, we saw the need to build strategic relationships with semiconductor companies,” he said.

Data and networks are the two core elements in the development of AI, Venkatarayalu said. “Data collection is not easy. Without good data, advanced AI solutions cannot operate effectively. Without large-scale data, no models are built for training.”

Bui Hai Hung, CEO of VinAI, provided a perspective on leveraging limited resources to drive innovation. He said that for a long time, the development of AI has relied on the use of increasingly large data and increasingly powerful computing power. However, this also entails a large demand for resources and higher costs.

Hung especially emphasised that the case of DeepSeek in China is a valuable lesson. Sometimes, the scarcity of resources becomes the driving force for us to find smarter ways to do things, thereby inspiring creativity.

“The DeepSeek team faced restrictions on GPU exports, forcing them to find ways to achieve more results with fewer resources. Currently, the number of GPUs of DeepSeek is estimated at much smaller than OpenAI - which has spent billions of dollars on AI,” he said.

DeepSeek has succeeded in significantly reducing the cost of training AI models, which comes from technical improvements such as optimising architecture, developing new algorithms, applying reinforcement learning and improving the efficiency of GPU usage at the low level.

Hung noted that Vietnam is facing serious resource constraints. He was previously a member of the DeepMind team in Mountain View, California. “When I decided to return to Vietnam to establish an AI lab, many colleagues were very surprised. It was a risky decision, but I believe that Vietnam has enough conditions, from talent to opportunity, to create interesting things. However, right from the start, I see a big challenge: the lack of resources.”

However, Hung also realised that Vietnam could be the ideal place to turn resource limitations into a driving force for innovation. Instead of seeing this as an obstacle, it could be a catalyst for innovation.

“In Vietnam, shortage of resources is not a barrier but a driving force for innovation. We have young and intelligent human resources. With performance and innovation, Vietnam can absolutely become a bright spot in the global AI field,” Hung stated.

AI is shaping the future of the semiconductor industry. Da-Shan Shiu, CEO of MediaTek, said that the industry requires high precision and optimal product quality. Thereby, AI and data will optimise the manufacturing process, from parameter control to improving equipment performance.

“Semiconductor manufacturing needs precision, near-perfect process control to maximise efficiency and yield. AI-based process control is an automated process, enabling real-time decision-making to ensure stability, reduce waste, and improve product reliability,” Shiu added.

Shiu also mentioned how AI supports real-time process control, especially in semiconductor chip manufacturing. AI can analyse data from measurement systems, identify small deviations in the production process and propose immediate adjustments. This minimises material loss and improves the reliability of the output product.

“To fully exploit AI in semiconductor manufacturing, businesses need to invest in powerful data systems and specialised models suitable for the complexity of production,” Shiu noted.

Christopher Nguyen, CEO and co-founder of Aitomatic, said that Vietnam is a rising force in the AI and semiconductor industries, driven by a young, talented population and increasing foreign and local investments

On the semiconductor side, the growing investments in both integrated chip design and packaging systems signal the start of a promising tech ecosystem.

“However, Vietnam should find its niche rather than competing in highly saturated markets like advanced semiconductor fabrication dominated by giants like TSMC,” he said. “Instead, we should focus on emerging, high-potential areas like edge AI, where no clear global leader has yet emerged,” Nguyen recommended.

“I believe Vietnam can build a comparative advantage by channelling resources and talent into these less crowded, fast-growing markets, creating the chance to become a global leader. I’m very excited about the potential of the edge becoming the centre and for edge AI in terms of chip design.”

Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister Vietnam’s economy is aiming for development based on science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and the green, digital, circular, creative, and sharing economies. To develop AI and semiconductors in particular, Vietnam should aim to cut at least 30 per cent of administrative procedures, reducing compliance costs for individuals and businesses, and strengthening decentralisation. We are shifting from management thinking to development thinking. Moreover, infrastructure for AI and semiconductor development should be carried out strongly, including transport infrastructure to reduce input and logistics costs, as well as infrastructure in IT, the digital transition, and energy. Human resources will meet the requirements of developing in microchips and AI. This is the biggest challenge, but Vietnam is focusing on implementing it, with solutions to innovate the education and training system towards better quality, focusing on encouraging basic research, training in English as a second language, and streamlining training with the spirit of lifelong learning. Another important solution is to develop a startup ecosystem for AI, semiconductors, and innovation that is suitable for the country’s talent and strengths. It is necessary to encourage the startup movement nationwide, contributing to the development of the country. Vietnam must build more research and development centres, as well as international and regional financial centres for Ho Chi Minh City and Danang. The government hopes that foreign partners and investors will contribute to providing advice on approaches, vision, and goals to ensure suitability with the situation in Vietnam. We must see contributions to perfecting institutions, cutting cumbersome procedures, and making decisions as soon as possible to reduce compliance costs for individuals and businesses as much as possible. Additionally, the government has requested partners to provide financial support and preferential loans to ensure efficiency, build more investment funds, develop financial centres, upgrade the stock market, encourage direct and indirect investment, and boost public-private cooperation to mobilise resources. Investors and partners should also promote tech transfer to Vietnam through R&D centres, and create conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to participate in global supply and production chains. Truong Gia Binh, chairman, FPT Group Vietnam has one million IT engineers, half of whom are software engineers who can be moved to AI, and is proceeding with the target of one million AI experts. If this can be carried out, Vietnam will be at the top of the list in terms of developed countries in this area. Many years ago, Vietnam was almost unknown on the world IT map. Today, it has become a hub for high-quality human resources. Therefore, investors can consider Vietnam as a large talent centre, where people with aspirations and a strong spirit of progress are gathered. With the current goals, FPT commits to transforming and training AI capacity for 500,000 people. Vietnam aims to train 50,000 semiconductor engineers by 2030 and will move towards hundreds of thousands of workers in the future. In the context of global investment in training semiconductor workers, FPT commits to training 5,000 people by the end of this decade, including 1,600 students studying semiconductors. In the past, more than a dozen leading universities have quickly opened training programmes on AI and semiconductors. FPT has prepared a force for a new generation of experts, integrating into the global technology flow. This is a gold mine waiting for international businesses to exploit. Moreover, the Party and state leaders have issued affirmations of Vietnam’s determination to choose innovation and sci-tech, including AI and semiconductors, as the roadmap for future development. We are mobilising the participation of the whole of society in digital transformation activities, and technology adoption in daily life.

VIR