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A National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Development Fund with a projected scale of VND 30 trillion has been proposed to be established under a draft decree prepared by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The Fund would be established by the Government as a not-for-profit entity to make investment, provide sponsorship, and support activities aimed at advancing AI development, from research and development to application and commercialisation of AI models.
Classified as an off-budget state financial fund, the Fund would be managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology. In addition to state funding, it may mobilise lawful contributions from organisations and individuals at home and abroad.
After receiving and managing these financial resources, the Fund would provide financial support and sponsorship, and implement investment activities to promote AI development across the entire value chain.
Specifically, the Fund might provide sponsorship covering up to 70 per cent of the total cost of a project, and support of up to 50 per cent, depending on its nature and scale. In exceptional cases, levels of support might be determined by the Prime Minister.
The Fund would provide financial support for access to and use of computing infrastructure, data resources and testing environments; evaluation, testing and quality assurance; technical and legal consultancy; as well as product completion and marketing.
In terms of sponsorship, the draft prioritises tasks related to research and development of core technologies. These include AI model development, data and language processing, training and deployment technologies, hardware and semiconductor technologies, computing technologies, as well as tools for safety assurance and risk governance.
The draft also emphasises the development of open-source solutions and shared-use platforms, contributing to the development of a domestic AI ecosystem.
With regard to investment in AI infrastructure, the draft identifies this as a strategic activity serving the public interest and not intended for profit.
Accordingly, the Fund may invest in shared-use AI infrastructure, including computing capacity, data resources, platforms and AI models. These investment activities would not be subject to procedures specified by the law on public investment but would instead be implemented under a specific mechanism to ensure flexibility. The State would accept a certain level of risk in such activities, provided that implementation complies with applicable regulations.
-(VLLF)
