Naver Cloud teams up with Siam AI to develop Thai-language LLM, AI agent

Naver leadership meets with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to discuss building sovereign AI systems, AI data center operations

From left: Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, Naver Executive Chair Lee Hae-jin, Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yoo-won, Siam AI Cloud CEO Ratanaphon Wongnapachant, Nvidia APAC Head Raymond Teh, and Nvidia APAC NCP Head Hue Davis pose for photo after signing an MOU for developing a Thai-language LLM and AI agent specialized in tourism on Thursday. (Naver)

Naver Cloud has partnered with Thailand’s leading artificial intelligence firm to develop a Thai-language large language model and tourism-specialized AI agent in a strategic push to bring AI sovereignty to Southeast Asia.

According to the Korean IT firm Friday, it forged an agreement with Siam AI Cloud to co-develop a Thai-language LLM and launch AI services customized for Thailand’s booming tourism industry. The partnership signals Naver’s first major step in exporting its sovereign AI strategy beyond Korea, the company said.

Top executives from both companies attended the signing ceremony held on the sidelines of the Nvidia Cloud Partner Summit in Taiwan. Naver Cloud and Siam AI Cloud were sole partners representing their respective countries in the summit.

Under the agreement, Naver Cloud will combine its LLM development and operational experience with Siam AI’s vast Thai-language data and graphic processing unit infrastructure, aiming to create a Thai-language LLM by the end of 2025.

Based on the LLM model, the two companies plan to launch an AI agent tailored to Thailand’s high-demand tourism industry.

From left: Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, Naver Executive Chair Lee Hae-jin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Nvidia Executive Vice President Jay Puri and Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yoo-won pose for photo after a meeting at Nvidia's Taiwan office on Thursday. (Naver)

Naver Cloud said it aims to ramp up collaboration to support the development of a diverse model lineup, scalable across sectors including healthcare, public services and education.

“This collaboration goes beyond building an LLM,” Naver Cloud CEO Kim Yoo-won said. “It’s about empowering Thailand with the technical capability and control to independently develop and operate its own AI models, paving the way for other countries seeking to establish their own AI ecosystems.”

Kim also underscored how Naver Cloud is positioned to provide tailored sovereign AI solutions with strengths across the entire AI value chain — from AI services and data to supercomputing infrastructure, cloud services and data centers.

During the Taiwan trip, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, Naver Chair Lee Hae-jin who founded the IT giant, and Kim also met with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to discuss strategies for building sovereign AI systems and expanding large-scale AI data center operations, the company said.

The Naver delegation also met with Taiwan’s top telecom operator, Chunghwa Telecom, to discuss broader expansion strategies for the Southeast Asian market.