— Vietnam has launched its first national artificial intelligence (AI) alliance that gathers 21 leading government agencies, tech companies, and academic institutions to develop sovereign AI technology tailored for the Vietnamese people and culture.

Premiered on June 20 in Hanoi, the Au Lac AI Alliance is the brainchild of FPT Chairman Truong Gia Binh, who described the initiative as a "call to action." He said that Vietnam has a pivotal opportunity to rise but also faces significant challenges.

"Major powers are investing hundreds of billions of US dollars annually into AI. Vietnam has no equivalent resources,” said Binh. "The alliance offers a collective solution to overcome these challenges and safeguard our technological sovereignty."

Founding members of the alliance include prominent companies such as FPT, VNPT, MobiFone, CMC, Bkav, Misa, VNPAY, Zalo, MoMo, AI For Vietnam, AI Hay, and Finhay, as well as seven top universities and research institutes, including the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics.

The alliance will focus on three key pillars: AI research and development, AI policy and standards, and AI education and training.

Regarding research and development, the alliance plans to develop long-form language models (LLMs) in Vietnamese that are rich in culture, precise, and impactful.

It also promotes an open and transparent AI community in Vietnam which is free for all, even for commercial purposes.

Concerning policy, the organization will advise on AI regulations and contribute to building ethical and technical standards for safe, accountable, and lawful AI systems.

Additionally, the alliance plans to organize training programs, competitions, and public awareness campaigns to strengthen community understanding and skills in AI.

At the launch, some domestic firms were committed to contributing to the AI community. Zalo will share its experience in model training and Vietnamese multi-task language understanding (VMLU) containing over 10,000 questions.

Meanwhile, Misa will provide a team of financial and accounting data experts, while Hanoi University of Science and Technology expects to solve major national-level challenges through AI.

Speaking at the event, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, Politburo member, President of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, and Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, said the alliance’s name, Au Lac, evokes Vietnam’s historic sovereignty and is well aligned with the country’s goal of asserting national identity in the digital era.