Qualcomm Technologies Inc. today announced that it has acquired MovianAI, a Vietnamese artificial intelligence developer.

MovianAI is the generative AI arm of VinAI Application and Research JSC, a machine learning research lab. VinAI is a unit of Vingroup, one of Vietnam’s largest conglomerates. The latter company operates hotels, manufactures cars and competes in several other markets.

“By bringing in high-caliber talent from VinAI, we are strengthening our ability to deliver cutting-edge AI solutions that will benefit a wide range of industries and consumers,” said Jilei Hou, Qualcomm’s senior vice president of engineering.

VinAI, MovianAI’s parent organization, is led by former DeepMind research scientist Hung Bui. It has published multiple papers on generative AI since launching in 2019. VinAI has also uploaded dozens of open-source projects to GitHub. 

About two years ago, VinAI researchers presented a new approach to building image generation models. The technique involves using an existing image generation model to train a smaller algorithm that can perform the same tasks using less hardware. According to VinAI, the technology reduces the need for training data and thereby eases development.

Besides new machine learning techniques, the lab has also developed several open-source AI models. One of its image generation algorithms combines three different neural network designs: the diffusion, Transformer and Mamba architectures. Mamba is a relatively new alternative to the Transformer architecture that can be more hardware-efficient in certain situations.

VinAI’s research efforts also extend beyond image generation. It has developed a custom large language model, RecGPT-7B, that is optimized for recommendation generation tasks.

“We are ready to contribute to Qualcomm’s mission of making breakthroughs in fundamental AI research and scale them across industries, including smartphones, PCs, software-defined vehicles, and more,” said VinAI CEO Hung Bui, who is joining the chipmaker as part of the deal.

MovianAI’s model development expertise could help Qualcomm enhance its suite of AI development tools. Those tools make it easier for companies to deploy machine learning applications on devices powered by the chipmaker’s processors.

Qualcomm provides a library of preconfigured AI models optimized to run on its silicon. Those algorithms remove the need for companies to train new algorithms from scratch, which speeds up development. For software teams that nevertheless wish to build custom models, Qualcomm provides tools that help optimize those models’ performance.

The MovianAI deal comes less than a month after the chipmaker acquired Edge Impulse Inc., another AI development specialist. The latter company’s software makes it easier to build AI models that can run efficiently on connected devices. Prior to the deal, Edge Impulse raised about $54 million in funding and built up an installed base of more than 170,000 developers.

Photo: Qualcomm