Taiwan plays a growing essential role in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain, from upstream chip design, foundries and chip assembly to downstream AI-enabled servers and computers, indicating that the country could duplicate its success in the high-technology sector, where it supplies 80 percent of the world’s PCs and feeds 90 percent of the data center market globally.
With voracious appetites for AI-related applications, this trend is becoming more marked, reflected in the increasing frequency of visits by leaders of the world’s most prominent technology companies.
Micron Technology Inc CEO Sanjay Mehrotra arrived in Taichung on Monday last week to attend the opening ceremony for the US’ biggest memorychip maker’s new fab with 3D packaging and testing capacities to enable production of Micron’s most advanced, high-bandwidth HBM3E memory chips, used mainly in AI devices, data centers, and edge computing and cloud applications. Taiwan is already a major manufacturing hub for Micron, manufacturing 60 percent of the firm’s total shipped DRAM chips.
Intel Corp CEO Pat Gelsinger came to Taipei the next day, his second trip to Taiwan this year. Gelsinger showcased new processors for AI PCs in collaboration with its local partners Asustek Computer Inc, Acer Inc and Quanta Computer Inc, during the chipmaker’s annual Intel Innovation event in Taipei.
Finally, Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) showed up in Taipei unexpectedly on Friday last week and attended KT Li Foundation’s awarding of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) for his contribution to the nation’s high-tech and economic development. The media reported that Huang was also here to ensure smooth shipments of the company’s new, but less powerful AI graphics processing units (GPU), aimed at the Chinese market to comply with Washington’s restrictions on semiconductor exports to China
With Nvidia’s GPU computing, the company realized that AI has started an industrial revolution that might be even greater than the PC, mobile devices and the Internet, Huang said during his award ceremony speech. Nvidia would not be possible without TSMC, he added.
The three CEOs share common ground in that they are here to strengthen partnerships with Taiwan’s AI sector. Taiwanese companies design AI chips for the world’s major cloud service providers such as Amazon, who are racing to build AI capacities to provide differentiated services, yet lack chip development capabilities. Alchip Technologies Ltd is one of a few local semiconductor companies offering application-specific ICs (ASIC) designing services with an expertise in AI chip design. AI startup Kneron Inc develops neural processing units that power AI edge devices. Taiwan Web Service Corp offers tailor-made AI algorithm capabilities and large-language-model training services, targeting budget-sensitive small and medium-sized businesses.
Since Taiwanese companies have deployed such an extensive AI industry network, it is easy to imagine that those AI companies could evolve into a major growth driver for the manufacturing industry. It is also easy to imagine them gradually becoming the successor to the semiconductor companies as the county’s new “cash cow.”
According to the Industrial Technology Research Institute’s (ITRI) forecast, global AI semiconductor production value is expected to surge to US$111.55 billion in 2027, up from US$51.26 billion this year. AI chips are expected to constitute a larger portion of the overall semiconductor production value at 14.8 percent by 2027, up from 9.6 percent this year, ITRI said.
Trying to force a partnership between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Intel Corp would be a wildly complex ordeal. Already, the reported request from the Trump administration for TSMC to take a controlling stake in Intel’s US factories is facing valid questions about feasibility from all sides. Washington would likely not support a foreign company operating Intel’s domestic factories, Reuters reported — just look at how that is going over in the steel sector. Meanwhile, many in Taiwan are concerned about the company being forced to transfer its bleeding-edge tech capabilities and give up its strategic advantage. This is especially
US President Donald Trump’s second administration has gotten off to a fast start with a blizzard of initiatives focused on domestic commitments made during his campaign. His tariff-based approach to re-ordering global trade in a manner more favorable to the United States appears to be in its infancy, but the significant scale and scope are undeniable. That said, while China looms largest on the list of national security challenges, to date we have heard little from the administration, bar the 10 percent tariffs directed at China, on specific priorities vis-a-vis China. The Congressional hearings for President Trump’s cabinet have, so far,
US political scientist Francis Fukuyama, during an interview with the UK’s Times Radio, reacted to US President Donald Trump’s overturning of decades of US foreign policy by saying that “the chance for serious instability is very great.” That is something of an understatement. Fukuyama said that Trump’s apparent moves to expand US territory and that he “seems to be actively siding with” authoritarian states is concerning, not just for Europe, but also for Taiwan. He said that “if I were China I would see this as a golden opportunity” to annex Taiwan, and that every European country needs to think
For years, the use of insecure smart home appliances and other Internet-connected devices has resulted in personal data leaks. Many smart devices require users’ location, contact details or access to cameras and microphones to set up, which expose people’s personal information, but are unnecessary to use the product. As a result, data breaches and security incidents continue to emerge worldwide through smartphone apps, smart speakers, TVs, air fryers and robot vacuums. Last week, another major data breach was added to the list: Mars Hydro, a Chinese company that makes Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as LED grow lights and the
RSS