Qualcomm Anchors AI Strategy in Vietnam With Hanoi Research Lab

U.S. chipmaker deepens Vietnam bet as AI talent and IP become strategic assets

As global technology firms race to secure artificial intelligence talent and sovereign innovation capacity, Qualcomm is placing a strategic marker in Vietnam. The U.S. chip giant will open a border AI research lab in Hanoi, signaling growing confidence in Vietnam’s role within the global AI supply chain—beyond manufacturing and into high-value research, intellectual property, and advanced training.

The lab is expected to be based at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, one of the country’s leading engineering institutions. The announcement was made in Hanoi on January 15 by Becky Fraser, Qualcomm’s Vice President for Government Relations in Asia-Pacific and India, during the signing of a cooperation agreement with Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training.

According to Qualcomm, the lab will deliver hands-on AI training programs, giving Vietnamese students and researchers access to advanced hardware and practical exposure to frontier technologies. This approach mirrors a broader shift among multinational tech companies: investing directly in local human capital to secure long-term innovation pipelines while reducing dependence on a limited number of global talent hubs.

Beyond the Hanoi lab, Qualcomm plans to back deeper AI research collaborations with top Vietnamese universities, including the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology and Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology. The company is also expanding its digital intellectual property education, having launched an online IP training platform that has already attracted more than 1,200 registrants, with over 460 students completing courses within three months—an unusually high conversion rate for technical IP education in emerging markets.

This initiative builds on Qualcomm’s existing footprint in Vietnam, notably the Qualcomm Vietnam Innovation Challenge, which supports university-linked startups in R&D execution, IP protection, and commercialization. Together, these programs indicate a deliberate strategy to embed Qualcomm not just as a technology supplier, but as a long-term ecosystem partner in Vietnam’s innovation economy.

For Vietnam, the partnership reinforces a national ambition to move up the value chain—from electronics manufacturing to AI research, digital transformation, and original IP creation. For global investors and policymakers, Qualcomm’s move is a clear signal: Vietnam is no longer just a cost-competitive manufacturing base in Southeast Asia, but an emerging node in the global AI and semiconductor talent network. The question now is whether more Big Tech players will follow—and how fast Vietnam can convert this momentum into globally competitive innovation output.