The United States and Vietnam have entered into groundbreaking business agreements worth billions of dollars, aimed at fostering collaboration in cutting-edge technologies, most notably artificial intelligence (AI).
The announcement was made during a joint press conference on September 11, underscoring the significance of this move.
U.S. President Joe Biden described this as a formal “upgrading” of the bilateral relationship between the two nations, highlighting key sectors like cloud computing, semiconductors, and AI.
He emphasized the deepening cooperation in critical and emerging technologies, particularly in building a resilient semiconductor supply chain.
President Biden also expressed optimism that this economic partnership would catalyze increased trade and investment between the two countries.
Importantly, he clarified that this initiative is not aimed at containing China but rather at establishing a stable foundation in the region.
Dignitaries from major tech companies, including Google, Intel, Boeing, Amkor, Microsoft, and Nvidia, were present at the conference.
Boeing and Amkor, in particular, announced additional deals, with Amkor planning to establish a new factory near Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, starting in October of this year.
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This facility will be dedicated to assembling, packaging, and testing AI chips.
Vietnam has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, ranking 34th globally with a GDP of $450 billion, as per data from Acclime, a regional corporate services provider in Asia.
Vietnam’s transition from centralized economic control to a more open approach has enabled the United States to become one of its largest export markets.
This AI-centric agreement has reportedly elevated the United States by two levels in Vietnam’s bilateral hierarchy, a position traditionally held by China, Russia, India, and South Korea.
Historically, the U.S.-Vietnam relationship had been restrained due to concerns about upsetting China and the remnants of a tumultuous past stemming from the Vietnam War.
These developments come at a time when governments worldwide are actively competing to develop and deploy advanced AI systems, particularly in the ongoing rivalry between the U.S. and China.
In October 2022, the Biden administration imposed an export ban on the latest and most potent semiconductor chips to China, a policy that is under consideration for further tightening.
China, on the other hand, introduced new AI regulations in August, resulting in the release of more than 70 AI models with over a billion parameters.
The AI landscape is rapidly evolving, and partnerships like the one between the U.S. and Vietnam are pivotal in shaping the global AI landscape.
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