Naver Cloud to Build Thai Language-Based LLM with Local Partner
Collaborating with Nvidia for 'Sovereign AI'... Expanding into the Southeast Asian Market
Haejin Lee, Chairman of the Board at Naver, who has emerged as the company's relief pitcher, has achieved tangible results in expanding 'Sovereign Artificial Intelligence (AI)' in Thailand. Naver has formed an alliance with Nvidia to build Sovereign AI and will embark on developing large language models (LLMs) for the Southeast Asian market.
On May 23, Naver Cloud announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Siam AI Cloud, an AI and cloud platform company in Thailand, to jointly develop a Thai language-based large language model (LLM) and AI agent. Siam AI Cloud receives strong support from the Thai government and is responsible for a significant portion of the government's AI industry development initiatives.
Naver and Nvidia senior executives are taking a commemorative photo after a separate meeting on the 22nd (local time) at Nvidia's office in Taiwan. Suyeon Choi, CEO of Naver; Haejin Lee, Chairman of Naver Board of Directors; Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia; Jay Puri, Senior Vice President of Nvidia; Yuwon Kim, CEO of Naver Cloud (from left). Provided by Naver Cloud
The signing ceremony took place during the 'NCP (NVIDIA Cloud Partner) Summit,' a cloud partner event hosted by Nvidia in Taiwan. Naver Cloud and Siam AI participated in the NCP Summit as the only Nvidia partners from Korea and Thailand, respectively. Chairman Lee and CEO Suyeon Choi of Naver also attended the signing ceremony, where they discussed further expansion of the Sovereign AI business in Southeast Asia and strategies for entering the global market.
Naver plans to accelerate the expansion of Sovereign AI into the Southeast Asian market based on this collaboration. Sovereign AI refers to a model in which a nation or company independently builds its AI capabilities by securing its own infrastructure and data.
Since last year, Naver Cloud has held frequent working-level discussions with Nvidia to concretize actual business models for building Sovereign AI, based on a shared understanding. Naver explained that the partnership with Siam AI is a direct result of these efforts. Naver has emphasized the necessity of Sovereign AI since it began developing its proprietary Korean language-based AI model, 'HyperCLOVA X.' Nvidia has also highlighted the importance of Sovereign AI as it seeks to enter emerging markets where it can supply AI semiconductors and other infrastructure.
Initially, the two companies will leverage their respective experience in building and operating LLMs, as well as Thai language data and GPU infrastructure, to develop a Thai language-specialized LLM that can be applied to real services by the end of this year. Based on this, they plan to introduce a tourism-specialized AI agent, which is in high demand in Thailand. Subsequently, they intend to secure a lineup of models of various sizes and expand their business into diverse industries that require AI. Throughout this process, Naver Cloud will share its technology and know-how to help Thailand independently develop and operate AI models and applications.
Yuwon Kim, CEO of Naver Cloud, stated, "The core of this collaboration is not just building an LLM, but supporting Thailand in acquiring the technological capability and control to develop and operate AI models domestically. Going forward, we plan to accelerate our entry into the Southeast Asian market by partnering with local companies like Siam AI that are capable of building Sovereign AI."
On the 22nd (local time), key executives from Naver and Nvidia held a separate meeting at Nvidia's Taiwan office to discuss the development of Sovereign AI and plans to expand large-scale AI data center businesses. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia; Sooyoung Jung, President of Nvidia Korea; (interpreter); Yuwon Kim, CEO of Naver Cloud; Suyeon Choi, CEO of Naver; and Haejin Lee, Chairman of Naver's Board of Directors (from left to right clockwise). Provided by Naver Cloud
Chairman Lee also met with Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, at the NCP Summit. On that day, Chairman Lee, CEO Choi, and CEO Kim, along with other key executives, met with Jensen Huang and Nvidia's management to discuss cooperation between the two companies in major areas such as Sovereign AI. In addition, they met with various partners, including Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's largest mobile carrier, to discuss the potential for expanding into Southeast Asian and global markets.
This was Chairman Lee's first public overseas engagement since returning to the board. Previously, in June last year, while serving as Global Investment Officer (GIO), Chairman Lee, along with CEO Choi and CEO Kim, visited Nvidia's headquarters in the United States and met with Jensen Huang to discuss Sovereign AI.
After stepping down as Chairman of Naver's Board in 2017, Chairman Lee led overseas business initiatives as Global Investment Officer (GIO). In March of this year, he was re-elected as Chairman of the Board at the general shareholders' meeting, marking his return to the forefront of management. This move is interpreted as a response to the risk of falling behind in the AI race against big tech companies in the era of full-scale AI.
Meanwhile, Chairman Lee plans to attend an investment networking event in Silicon Valley early next month, where he will meet with Korean engineers and entrepreneurs. CEO Choi and Namsun Kim, Head of Strategic Investment, will accompany him on the trip to the United States.
Naver Cloud signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the 22nd (local time) with Siam AI Cloud of Thailand to implement a Thai language-based large language model (LLM) and tourism-specialized artificial intelligence (AI) agent. From left: Suyeon Choi, CEO of Naver; Haejin Lee, Chairman of Naver Board; Yuwon Kim, CEO of Naver Cloud; Rattanaphon Wongnapachant, CEO of Siam AI Cloud; Raymond Teh, Head of NVIDIA APAC; Hue Davis, Head of NVIDIA APAC NCP. Photo by Naver Cloud
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
