Vietnam tech firm VNG becomes Nvidia's cloud partner

GreenNode, an AI GPU cloud provider subsidiary of VNG Digital Business, said it has been providing AI and software services to clients using Nvidia products since April, according to Nikkei Asia.

Its data hub in Bangkok, Thailand, was recently equipped with 1,000 Nvidia graphics processing units to host these services, parent company VNG said.

Though built years ago the facility has only seen regular use since 2023 after the U.S. began restricting exports of Nvidia GPUs to China.

As a cloud partner, VNG can gain priority access to Nvidia’s chips and utilize software architecture and technology compatible with those of the U.S. company.

Tung Vu, head of product management at GreenNode, told Tech in Asia website that the partnership would expedite the adoption of high-performance AI models for enterprises in Southeast Asia, India, Australia, Japan, and Korea.

VNG is not the only major Vietnamese tech firm that Nvidia has tied up with in recent months.

It signed a deal with IT giant FPT last month to build a US$200-million AI factory in Vietnam.

VNG has been working with data center provider STT GDC on projects in Ho Chi Minh City.

On Wednesday the two signed a deal to jointly operate their STT VNG Ho Chi Minh City 1 data center and develop a second one.

Founded in 2004, VNG was Vietnam's first unicorn, a startup valued at $1 billion or more.

The HCMC-based company's businesses include online games, payments, cloud services, and top messaging app, Zalo.

Its shareholders include Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent, and Singapore sovereign fund Temasek.