Wistron Group (緯創集團) yesterday announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft Corp Taiwan’s artificial intelligence research and development center, whereby the two firms would create an office in Kaohsiung for artificial intelligence and big data-related products and services.
Wistron is also to invest NT$50 million (US$1.69 million) over the next two years to develop new talent in the area, Wistron Corp (緯創資通) vice chairman Robert Huang (黃柏漙) told a news conference in Taipei.
The office is part of the contract electronics manufacturer’s “digital transformation” from an original design manufacturer into a technology service provider, Huang said.
Photo: CNA
“Big data is not just for big business … it is the company’s mission to help all businesses embrace digital technology,” he said.
The Kaohsiung office is to have a strong emphasis on the cultivation of talent, as “we are growing people, not factories,” he added.
Artificial intelligence technologies are being developed for many different industries, and Wistron, in conjunction with Microsoft, plans to use its resources, as well its subsidiary WiAdvance Technology Co’s (緯謙科技) expertise in corporate digital transformation and smart manufacturing, to address various challenges facing local industries, Huang said.
Huang also serves as chairman of WiAdvance.
Tragedies such as the fire that killed six people at a karaoke parlor in Taipei in April could be avoided if inspectors could continually monitor firefighting equipment online, WiAdvance senior technology director Raymond Fan (范振煌) said.
Smart technology could also assist with disease prevention efforts by tracking individual’s movements and body temperature without compromising their privacy, he said.
As an example, Wistron has provided En Chu Kong Hospital (恩主公醫院) in New Taipei City’s Sanxia District (三峽) with a smart healthcare system incorporating remote capabilities.
The system allows medical instructions to be passed to patients and doctors to inspect how wounds are healing remotely, the company said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that its investment plan in Arizona is going according to schedule, following a local media report claiming that the company is planning to break ground on its third wafer fab in the US in June. In a statement, TSMC said it does not comment on market speculation, but that its investments in Arizona are proceeding well. TSMC is investing more than US$65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs. The first one has started production using the 4-nanometer (nm) process, while the second one would start mass production using the
A TAIWAN DEAL: TSMC is in early talks to fully operate Intel’s US semiconductor factories in a deal first raised by Trump officials, but Intel’s interest is uncertain Broadcom Inc has had informal talks with its advisers about making a bid for Intel Corp’s chip-design and marketing business, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Nothing has been submitted to Intel and Broadcom could decide not to pursue a deal, according to the Journal. Bloomberg News earlier reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is in early talks for a controlling stake in Intel’s factories at the request of officials at US President Donald Trump’s administration, as the president looks to boost US manufacturing and maintain the country’s leadership in critical technologies. Trump officials raised the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
CHIP BOOM: Revenue for the semiconductor industry is set to reach US$1 trillion by 2032, opening up opportunities for the chip pacakging and testing company, it said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains. The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple
RSS