Taiwan is investing NT$65 million (US$1.98 million) to build shared computing resources for eligible Taiwanese artificial intelligence (AI) developers, Minister of Digital Affairs Huang Yen-nun (黃彥男) said yesterday.
AI technology is important for the nation’s economic future, but the cost of computers and technical personnel poses formidable barriers to small and medium enterprises interested in entering the field, he said in an interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times).
The ministry’s “computing pool” program is aimed at this problem by offering computational power to enterprises that lack the resources to test ideas and promising concepts, Huang said.
Photo: Hsu Tzu-ling, Taipei Times
The platform is made of five Supermicro servers equipped with 32 Nvidia H100 and eight AMD M1300X processors to enable high-speed computations, he said, adding that the system would begin accepting applications before Aug. 13.
The ministry expects to approve 60 Taiwanese enterprises to have access to the computing resources, with each permitted to use the processors for six weeks at a time, he said.
Furnishing government-backed servers to support private-sector innovation would make research and development more efficient, boosting the Taiwanese technology sector’s competitiveness, he said.
Interested enterprises should apply for the use of the computing resources with the Administration of Digital Industries, but be aware that priority is given to companies younger than eight years, he said.
The computing platform cannot be used for cryptocurrency mining or training another model via an application programming interface, Huang said.
Separately, the ministry has obtained the legislature’s authorization to use NT$10 billion from the National Development Fund to invest in innovations in AI technology, Huang said.
Details about the application process for corporate partners and eligibility would be announced next month, he said.
Meanwhile, the ministry has met with representatives from companies owning popular platforms including Google, Meta and Line to discuss measures to fight Internet-based fraud, Huang said, adding that they broadly agreed to the government’s requests.
These demands include a commitment to more speedy takedowns of scammer advertisements and a specific pledge from Meta to verify the identity of all advertisers on its platforms to root out impersonators, he said.
The ministry is eyeing the creation of a dedicated committee to counter disinformation as a more credible alternative to empowering a government apparatus to decide the authenticity of information by itself, he said.
The committee would be authorized to evaluate the truthfulness of content and order erroneous or harmful information to be removed from social media platforms, Huang said.
In addition, the legislature has passed the third reading of a slew of amendments on laws regarding fraud that affect the ministry, he said.
These new laws would require online-based advertisement platforms to have a physical office or a person in charge in Taiwan, disclose their identity in business dealings and they would be obligated to comply with government anti-fraud measures, Huang said.
Failure to comply with that obligation could result in a repeatable maximum fine of NT$100 million, a sum capable of exerting real pressure on private sector companies, he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS