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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by