Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia Corp, poses for a selfie with an attendee at the AI Vision for Thailand event at Park Hyatt Bangkok on Wednesday. (Photo: Bloomberg)
Thailand can become the “land of artificial intelligence“(AI), creating economic impact and improving national competitiveness, says Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia.
AI will be everywhere within three years, he said Wednesday at the launch of an AI infrastructure project by Siam.AI Cloudthe first Thai Nvidia Cloud partner in the country.
Siam.AI Cloud also announced comprehensive partnerships with leading institutions to drive national digital transformation with “Sovereign AI”.
Sovereign AI refers to a country’s ability to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and corporate networks.
“Thailand recognizes the importance of having AI infrastructure and data,” said Huang, whose company has become one of the most valuable in the world as a key driver of the AI revolution. AI through its production of advanced microprocessors.
“Siam AI Cloud is the first AI cloud in Thailand, the first AI language in Thailand, with the large local language model OpenThai GPT, and this is an extraordinary moment. And frankly, only 20 countries in the world have done it,” he said.
The Taiwanese-born American billionaire was the main attraction at the “AI Vision for Thailand” seminar organized by Siam.AI Cloud at the Park Hyatt Bangkok on Wednesday. His audience included three Thai billionaires: former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, CP Group patriarch Dhanin Chearavanont and Gulf Energy chief executive Sarath Ratanavadi. CP and Gulf are investing heavily in the technology sector, including data centers.
Mr. Huang told the audience that building AI infrastructure does not require huge sums of money, often only hundreds of thousands of dollars, but can significantly increase GDP.
In order to unleash the power of AI infrastructure, the country must transform the younger generation into a workforce of tomorrow, he said.
Nvidia has partnered with 40 local universities and supported nearly 60 AI-native startups to enable existing industries to adopt AI.
Mr. Huang suggested that to develop AI in Thailand, the country needs an AI supercomputer with the necessary hardware to support AI advancements.
Thailand has the skills required to teach the machines, with plenty of computer scientists and expertise available, he added. (Story continues below)
Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra joins Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the “AI Vision for Thailand” seminar held at Park Hyatt Bangkok on Wednesday. (Photo: Reuters)
Data “your natural resource”
AI’s most important asset is data, and Thailand’s data is a sovereign resource. It encodes the nation’s knowledge, history, culture and common sense and should be protected and used by the Thai people, Mr Huang said.
“Thailand’s data… it belongs to the Thai people. It’s your natural resource,” he said.
Siam.AI Cloud is the first AI cloud provider in Thailand and uses the local big language model OpenThai GPT.
Mr Huang said the AI industry is resetting and Thailand is at the same starting point as every other country.
Unlike past technological changes, AI represents a platform shift in which all countries start from scratch.
AI is not just a technology, but an essential part of society’s infrastructure. Just like energy and communications, AI will become fundamental to every citizen, business, researcher and school in Thailand.
Mr. Huang added that AI is becoming a new global industry.
“This AI industry will produce intelligence, a commodity that, although invisible, will be one of the most valuable resources in the world,” he said.
He said he hoped Thailand could be at the global forefront of this technology.
When asked how Thailand could attract Nvidia’s manufacturing investments, Mr. Huang said the most important thing was to invest in yourself, and Thailand made the right decisions.
The government already understands this point, given that it has launched national AI initiatives.
He said Thailand’s workforce is highly skilled and electronics manufacturing will continue to grow in Thailand. He therefore believes that investments will come naturally.
Mr. Huang also met with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Tuesday. According to a statement released by the government, Nvidia is ready to work with the Thai government to develop world-class AI infrastructure and share best practices and technical expertise to support Thai AI projects. (Story continues below)
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (left) and Siam.AI Cloud CEO Ratanaphon Wongnapacant discuss their partnership at the “AI Vision for Thailand” seminar held at Park Hyatt Bangkok on Wednesday.
Multiple partnerships
Siam.AI Cloud officially launched its high-performance Nvidia H100 Tensor Core GPU cluster on Wednesday.
The Nvidia H100 GPU cluster infrastructure includes the full Nvidia AI platform, including Nvidia AI Enterprise software, with plans to expand to next-generation Nvidia H200 Tensor Core GPUs and Nvidia GB200 Grace Blackwell superchips.
“Our mission extends beyond infrastructure deployment and aims to establish Thailand’s sovereign AI capabilities,” said Ratanaphon Wongnapachant, CEO of Siam.AI Cloud.
Siam.AI Cloud also announced partnerships including a healthcare collaboration with Mahidol University focused on drug discovery, genome sequencing and Thailand-specific medical AI solutions.
It also announced a strategic alliance with True Internet Data Center (True IDC), a Charoen Pokphand Group company, to develop AI infrastructure and solutions. The partnership will focus on deploying Nvidia’s accelerated computing infrastructure, developing bespoke AI models, and offering graphics processing unit (GPU) solutions as a service, with an emphasis on on the analysis of consumer behavior.
The company is also set to announce a strategic partnership with Gulf Edge through the Gulf Business Group’s GSA data center to provide locally hosted Nvidia accelerated computing resources, enabling AI innovations in the energy, digital and telecommunications. The GSA data center is expected to be operational by March 2025.
Siam.AI Cloud also launched its high-performance Nvidia H100 Tensor Core GPU cluster. The investment in this cluster is estimated at 1.8 billion to 2 billion baht, according to the company.