Viettel Pioneers Sovereign AI With NVIDIA

As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly reshapes the global economy, the ability to develop core AI capabilities has become a strategic imperative for nations. In this context, Viettel will build a sovereign AI ecosystem, reinforcing its leadership in developing and operating real-world AI systems in Vietnam with NVIDIA AI infrastructure powered by NVIDIA DGX.

The initiative focuses on two key pillars: high-performance computing infrastructure and foundational AI models.

On the infrastructure side, Viettel is among the first organizations in Vietnam and among the pioneers in Southeast Asia to deploy NVIDIA DGX B200 systems - one of the world’s most advanced high-performance computing platforms. With processing power reaching up to 1.5 exaFLOPs (equivalent to 1.5 quintillion calculations per second), Viettel’s cluster of 22 DGX B200 systems enables the processing of massive datasets while significantly shortening AI training time. Hosting this supercomputing capability within domestic data centers allows Viettel to control the entire AI development lifecycle while ensuring that national data is processed securely and remains fully protected.

Viettel deploys NVIDIA DGX B200 systems - one of the world's most advanced high-performance computing platforms

Leveraging high-performance infrastructure, Viettel is focusing on developing Vietnamese large language models (LLMs) that deeply understand the country’s language, culture, and legal system. The models are developed by mastering and customizing the open NVIDIA Nemotron models. The NVIDIA Nemotron 3 family of models enables AI systems to retain and connect information more effectively, deliver more relevant responses, and enhance complex reasoning capabilities in Vietnamese. In the future, as next-generation Nemotron  versions are officially released, Viettel will continue to integrate these advancements to bolster logical reasoning and multi-tasking efficiency.

Viettel develops Vietnamese large language models by mastering and customizing the open NVIDIA Nemotron models (Photo: NVIDIA)

A key differentiator lies in Viettel’s extensive curated digital knowledge base. By training models on carefully selected and standardized local datasets, Viettel ensures that AI systems not only deliver accurate information but also capture the nuanced context of Vietnamese thinking and real-world implementation environments.

Alongside infrastructure and model development, NVIDIA Nemotron team is working closely with Viettel to organize specialized technical workshops on sovereign AI. These sessions allow Viettel engineers to collaborate directly with NVIDIA Nemotron experts to optimize training methodologies, fine-tune models, and accelerate research timelines while strengthening AI deployment capabilities.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Quy, Director of Viettel Artificial Intelligence and Data Services Center (Viettel AI), the unit leading the development of core AI technologies, emphasized: “AI is not just a tool—it is essential infrastructure, much like telecommunications. Our work with NVIDIA gives us access to cutting-edge technology platforms and our Vietnamese engineers will design, train, and master these AI models to meet the specific needs of Vietnamese users. This marks an important milestone in Viettel’s journey to build sovereign AI.”

The combination of NVIDIA AI infrastructure and Viettel’s deep understanding of local users has already resulted in practical applications such as AI legal assistants and AI assistants for public servants, demonstrating the effectiveness of applied AI solutions. 

Looking ahead, Viettel plans to share their infrastructure resources and technology platforms with research institutions, enterprises, and startup communities across Vietnam. This partnership not only strengthens Viettel’s technological capabilities but also lays the foundation for a self-reliant and sustainable domestic AI ecosystem, ready to support the Vietnamese government and businesses in their national digital transformation journey.