HANOI : Artificial intelligence (AI) is now the focus of global technology, with countries spending billions of dollars in research and development (R&D) to be at the forefront of new technology.

Vietnam is not outside this trend. Domestic tech powers and innovative start-ups are accelerating their investment and taking solid steps in AI research and new applications in new business models.

FPT, the leading information technology service company in Vietnam, recently announced that it will spend VNĐ300 billion (US$13.16 million) on AI research and development over the next five years.

The company has invested in such R&D since 2013 and formed a diverse ecosystem of products, solutions, and platforms to help businesses and organisations optimise their operations, improve their performance, and deliver a superior customer experience.

Other tech powers such as Viettel, VNPT, VNG, and Vingroup are also investing heavily in AI research and development.

To improve R&D capacity of AI technology, Viettel and Vingroup have invested in supercomputer technologies for solving highly complex problems in mathematics while accelerating development of AI technology.

Vingroup has also boosted investment in technology and has applied AI technology in healthcare, smart automobiles and self-driving cars.

Bùi Hải Hưng, head of VinAI Research, a member of Vingroup, said that over the years, AI had become an effective tool to solve difficulties as well as create many opportunities for Vietnamese businesses.

"Despite possessing great potential, the development of AI within the country still faces many challenges. As a leader in AI research and application in Vietnam, we aim to bring Vietnamese AI research and products to the world," he added.

Vương Quang Khải, deputy general director of VNG Corporation, said the next wave was AI and the country should invest in it. If technology businesses did not keep up with rapidly changing technology, they could become outsiders in the future.

Nguyễn Mạnh Quý, director of the Viettel Cyberspace Center, said along with investment in researching new technology trends around the world, Viettel would also invest in providing platforms and digital services with a strong social impact to provide more value to users. It would also bring AI more deeply into real life while helping national digital transformation.

Global tech giants are far ahead of Vietnamese tech companies in AI R&D, however, the participation of Vietnamese companies has shown a good signal, creating a driving force for AI research and development.

Experts said the investment and development of AI technology by major corporations had attracted Vietnamese experts as well as AI engineers from all over the world, while seminars with the participation of foreign experts are organised regularly, forming a strong AI community in the country.

According to the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Computational Intelligence 2020, Việt Nam currently ranks 21st in the world in the field of AI.

The Vietnamese Government has issued a national strategy on the research, development and application of AI until 2030 with a view to gradually turning Vietnam into an innovation and AI hub in Asean and the world.

  - ANN