What the partners describe as the first Applied AI Center of Excellence in Asia is expected to be located in Ho Chi Minh City. The announcement was made at the Plug and Play Silicon Valley November Summit 2026. The summit ran November 3 to 5 in Sunnyvale, California, and drew more than 3,000 AI experts, technology entrepreneurs, investment funds and academics. The three partners are the global innovation platform Plug and Play, the Ho Chi Minh City Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (SIHUB) and the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH).
The center’s model is applied, not theoretical. Its stated purpose is to solve real business problems and integrate AI into production, business and urban management. That shortens the chain from problem definition to research, testing, commercialization, fundraising and scale-up. That is the gap the partners say they are closing: Vietnamese universities produce AI research, and Vietnamese startups build AI products, but the path between the two is slow and poorly funded.
Three partners, three roles
The partnership divides the work three ways. SIHUB acts as the central coordinating hub, connecting the innovation ecosystem in the city. UEH contributes interdisciplinary training, in-depth research and high-quality human resources. Plug and Play brings its network of investment funds, global corporate partners and internationally standardized startup acceleration programs.
The arrangement follows a memorandum of understanding signed on September 30, 2026 in Ho Chi Minh City between SIHUB, UEH and Plug and Play Singapore. UEH has now formally joined Plug and Play’s Global University Partner Network. An implementation agreement was expected to be completed within about 30 days of the memorandum, with the program announced at the November Summit.
Saeed Amidi, founder and chief executive of Plug and Play, praised Ho Chi Minh City’s dynamic economy, abundant young workforce and innovative spirit at the announcement. He spoke of supporting Vietnamese technology startups in reaching international markets and capital. Associate Professor Bui Quang Hung, Director of UEH, said the university would work closely with SIHUB and Plug and Play to operate the center, creating favorable conditions to attract venture capital funds and international businesses to run projects in Vietnam. Consul General of Vietnam in San Francisco Hoang Anh Tuan was also present.
The reference models
To build a workable model, the partners are drawing on Plug and Play’s university-linked applied-AI centers in the United States. At San Jose State University, the AI center connected urban problems with startups and supported about 30 AI startups in its first year. Another example cited is the startup Atomic Canyon, which commercialized a contract worth USD 3.4 million a year with the energy company PG&E. The partners also cite a public, startup and university cooperation model from Upper Austria, with a fivefold scale-up growth target as a reference ambition.
Those are references, not results achieved in Ho Chi Minh City. The San Jose numbers describe what a comparable center did in its first year in California; the Upper Austria target is an ambition, not a commitment. The Ho Chi Minh City center has no published budget, no building and no operating mechanism yet. Scope, scale and operating mechanism are still to be finalized and announced.
Why Ho Chi Minh City, and why now
The case the partners make for the city rests on scale. Ho Chi Minh City contributes about 20 percent of Vietnam’s GDP, and Vietnam has a network of 17 free trade agreements. The Consulate General in San Francisco cited those as the conditions for turning network expansion into direct commercialization of technology and real economic value. The city also has a dense startup scene, and UEH is one of its largest universities, with programs spanning economics, technology and digital design.
The timing fits a wider pattern. Vietnamese AI startups have been raising money and winning attention this year (see AI Hay’s funding round and Lite-On’s AI supply-chain investment). The country’s digital economy is the fastest-growing in Southeast Asia, according to the e-Conomy SEA 2026 report (see our report on the findings). What has been missing, in the partners’ framing, is the bridge between university research and commercial products, and between local startups and the capital and corporate customers that sit in Silicon Valley. The center is designed to be that bridge.
What to watch
The next milestone is dated. In March 2027, Plug and Play leaders, venture capital funds and international technology corporations are expected to visit Ho Chi Minh City. They will launch concrete action programs, turning Silicon Valley commitments into actual investment projects. That visit is the point at which the announcement becomes measurable: which funds come, which programs launch, and how much capital follows.
Until then, the center should be read for what it is: a cooperation agreement with named partners, a defined model and a date for the next step. There is no funding figure, no site and no operating plan yet. The “first in Asia” description is the partners’ positioning, not an independent ranking. If the March 2027 visit produces concrete programs and the San Jose reference numbers prove transferable, the center could become a direct route between Vietnamese AI research and global capital. If it does not, it will join a long list of memoranda that never became institutions.
Why it matters
Vietnam’s AI story so far has been told in funding rounds and factory announcements. A center of excellence would tell it differently, as a pipeline. University research is tested against real business problems, accelerated by a global platform, funded by international capital, and sold to global customers. Ho Chi Minh City has the researchers, the startups and the market. What it has not had is the institution that connects them. The November Summit announcement says that institution is coming. The March 2027 visit will show whether it arrives.
Sources
vietnam.vn (the state’s official external information portal), November 6, 2026: the first Center of Excellence for Applied Artificial Intelligence in Asia is expected to be located in Ho Chi Minh City; announced at the Plug and Play Silicon Valley November Summit 2026 (November 3-5, Sunnyvale, California), attended by more than 3,000 AI experts, technology entrepreneurs, investment funds and academics; partners are Plug and Play, the Ho Chi Minh City Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (SIHUB) and the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH); the model solves practical business problems and integrates AI into production, business and urban management, shortening the chain from problem definition to research, testing, commercialization, fundraising and scale-up; SIHUB coordinates the city innovation ecosystem, UEH provides interdisciplinary training, research and talent, Plug and Play brings its investor network, global corporate partners and accelerator programs; reference models include San Jose State University’s AI center supporting about 30 AI startups in its first year and startup Atomic Canyon commercializing a USD 3.4 million per year contract with energy company PG&E; Assoc. Prof. Dr Bui Quang Hung, Director of UEH, said UEH will work closely with SIHUB and Plug and Play to operate the center; Ho Chi Minh City contributes about 20 percent of Vietnam’s GDP and Vietnam has a network of 17 free trade agreements; in March 2027 Plug and Play leaders, venture capital funds and international technology corporations are expected to visit Ho Chi Minh City to launch concrete action programs. https://www.vietnam.vn/en/tp-hcm-sap-co-trung-tam-xuat-sac-ve-tri-tue-nhan-tao-ung-dung-dau-tien-cua-chau-a
Nhan Dan (Nhan Dan newspaper), November 6, 2026, 20:26: confirms the cooperation to establish the first Applied AI Center of Excellence in Asia in Ho Chi Minh City, announced at the Plug and Play Silicon Valley November Summit 2026; follows a memorandum of understanding signed September 30, 2026 in Ho Chi Minh City between SIHUB, UEH and Plug and Play Singapore; UEH has joined Plug and Play’s Global University Partner Network; Saeed Amidi, founder and CEO of Plug and Play, and Consul General of Vietnam in San Francisco Hoang Anh Tuan were present. https://nhandan.vn/hop-tac-thanh-lap-trung-tam-xuat-sac-ve-ai-ung-dung-dau-tien-tai-chau-a-post1000756.html
