From Thai LLM to Tourism-Specific AI … NAVER Cloud Accelerates Entry into Southeast Asia’s Sovereign AI Market
From Thai LLM to Tourism-Specific AI … NAVER Cloud Accelerates Entry into Southeast Asia’s Sovereign AI Market
From Thai LLM to Tourism-Specific AI … NAVER Cloud Accelerates Entry into Southeast Asia’s Sovereign AI Market
- Signs a joint development agreement with Thailand’s SIAM.AI Cloud to build Thai LLM and AI agents for tourism
- Supports the development of independent Thai LLM and ecosystem activation through technology transfer and expertise sharing
- Marks the outcome of close collaboration with NVIDIA; Chairman Lee Hae-jin and CEO Choi Soo-yeon also attended to discuss global market expansion
May 23, 2025
[Photo] NAVER Cloud signed an MOU with SIAM.AI Cloud to jointly develop a Thai LLM and a tourism-specific AI agent.
(From left) Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of NAVER; Lee Hae-jin, Chairman of the NAVER Board; Kim Yu-won, CEO of NAVER Cloud; Ratanaphon Wongnapachant, CEO of SIAM.AI Cloud; Raymond Teh, Head of NVIDIA APAC; and Hue Davis, Head of NVIDIA APAC NCP
NAVER Cloud (CEO Kim Yu-won) announced that it has signed a business agreement with Thailand’s AI and cloud platform company, SIAM.AI Cloud (hereinafter “SIAM.AI”), to jointly develop a Thai language–based large language model (LLM) and AI agent customized for the tourism sector. SIAM.AI is recognized as a key player in Thailand’s AI transformation, and the partnership is expected to accelerate the expansion of sovereign AI initiatives across the Southeast Asian market.
Leveraging their respective experience in developing and operating LLMs, as well as extensive Thai language datasets and robust GPU infrastructure, the two companies aim to develop a Thai-specific LLM by year’s end that can be applied to real-life services. Based on this, they also plan to launch a tourism-specific AI agent designed for Thailand’s high-demand tourism industry.
Looking ahead, the companies will build a diverse lineup of AI models in various sizes and expand into a wide range of AI-driven industries, such as healthcare, public services, and academia. Throughout the process, NAVER Cloud will actively share its technology and expertise to help Thailand build the capabilities to independently develop and operate AI models and applications.
The agreement was signed during the NVIDIA Cloud Partner Summit (NCP Summit) held in Taiwan, where NAVER Cloud and SIAM.AI participated as the exclusive representatives of South Korea and Thailand, respectively. NAVER Cloud emphasized that the partnership with SIAM.AI resulted from sustained collaboration with NVIDIA since last year, driven by a shared vision for building Sovereign AI infrastructure.
Lee Hae-jin, Chairman of the NAVER Board of Directors, and Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of NAVER, also attended the signing ceremony, joining discussions on expanding the sovereign AI business into the broader Southeast Asian region and exploring opportunities in global markets.
Kim Yu-won, CEO of NAVER Cloud, stated, “This collaboration goes beyond simply building an LLM; its core lies in supporting Thailand in developing and operating AI models domestically with technological capabilities and control. This could offer a new direction for countries seeking to build independent AI ecosystems.” He added, “We plan to accelerate our expansion into the Southeast Asian market by continuing to collaborate with partners like SIAM.AI, who can build sovereign AI locally, including LLMs, infrastructure, and applications.”
Kim continued, “NAVER Cloud possesses end-to-end capabilities across the AI value chain—from AI services and data to AI backbone, supercomputing infrastructure, cloud platforms, and data centers—enabling us to deliver customized sovereign AI solutions for countries and companies alike.”
Meanwhile, during their visit to Taiwan, Lee Hae-jin, Chairman of the NAVER Board of Directors; Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of NAVER; and Kim Yu-won, CEO of NAVER Cloud, held meetings with various partners, including NVIDIA and Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan’s largest telecommunications provider, to discuss the potential for expanding into Southeast Asian and global markets. (/End)
