Korea’s Naver Cloud announced a partnership with Thailand’s AI and cloud platform leader, SIAM.AI Cloud (SIAM.AI), to co-develop Thai-language large language models (LLMs) and AI agents. SIAM.AI, a key driver of Thailand’s AI transformation, plans to leverage this collaboration to accelerate sovereign AI expansion across Southeast Asia.

The two companies will combine their expertise in LLM development, extensive Thai-language data, and GPU infrastructure to build a Thai-specific LLM by year-end, suitable for real-world services. This will support the launch of a tourism-focused AI agent, addressing high demand in Thailand.

Subsequently, they aim to develop a range of model sizes to expand into industries like healthcare, public services, and academia. Naver Cloud will share its technical expertise to empower Thailand to independently develop and operate AI models and applications.

The agreement was signed at the NVIDIA Cloud Partner Summit (NCP Summit) in Taiwan, where Naver Cloud and SIAM.AI were the sole representatives from Korea and Thailand, respectively. Naver Cloud has been closely collaborating with NVIDIA since last year to advance sovereign AI, and this partnership with SIAM.AI is a fruition of those efforts, the company stated.

The signing ceremony was attended by Naver’s Board Chairman Young-jin Lee and CEO Sooyeon Choi, who discussed strategies for expanding sovereign AI in Southeast Asia and entering global markets.

Yu-won Kim, CEO of Naver Cloud, stated, “This collaboration goes beyond building LLMs; it’s about equipping Thailand with the technology and control to develop and manage AI models domestically, setting a new direction for nations building independent AI ecosystems. We plan to accelerate Southeast Asian market entry by partnering with firms like SIAM.AI, capable of local sovereign AI development in LLMs, infrastructure, and applications.”

Kim added, “Naver Cloud’s expertise spans the entire AI value chain—AI services, data, AI backbone, supercomputing infrastructure, cloud, and data centers—enabling us to deliver tailored solutions for countries and companies seeking sovereign AI.”

Meanwhile, Chairman Lee, CEO Choi, and CEO Kim, while in Taiwan, met with NVIDIA and Taiwan’s largest telecom provider, Chunghwa Telecom, among other partners, to explore opportunities for Southeast Asian and global market expansion.