Microsoft Corp yesterday announced the launch of an artificial intelligence (AI) research and development (R&D) center in Taiwan, and the company’s aim of hiring and training more than 200 researchers and developers in the next five years to boost the nation’s AI industry.
The Microsoft AI R&D Center is the first foreign-business-backed center to focus on AI technology in the nation.
“Microsoft would like to contribute to Taiwan’s industry upgrade. We will do our best to help Taiwan acquire a strategic position in the global AI landscape,” Microsoft Taiwan general manager Ken Sun (孫基康) told a news conference at the US company’s office in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
Sun said the reason Microsoft chose to build the center in Taiwan is because the nation’s education system has cultivated a lot of talent in mathematics, engineering and the sciences.
Taiwan’s leading position and capability in the global manufacturing industry, as well as the government’s support, prompted Microsoft to launch the project here, he said.
“The government really appreciates Microsoft’s help in developing Taiwan’s AI industry. The government will give full support to Microsoft’s project here,” Premier William Lai (賴清德) said at the news conference.
Sun said the company is to invest NT$1 billion (US$33.78 million) and foster 100 people in the R&D team in the first two years.
The center’s capacity would continue to grow and Microsoft aims to recruit 200 people within five years, he added.
Microsoft Taiwan marketing and operating head Jason Tsao (趙質忠) said the company is to start a campus recruitment tour between March and April.
Tsao said the R&D center is also to develop industry-specific applications, focusing mainly on the AI-augmented keyboard application SwiftKey, Audience Intent Recognition and sharing some of Microsoft’s AI technology with Taiwanese firms.
Tsao said by collaborating with firms in the manufacturing sector, Microsoft would be able to understand the application needs of those companies, and help them to transform and restructure with AI.
Microsoft said the R&D center would complement the Microsoft IoT Innovation Center to accelerate innovation in Taiwanese industries.
The Microsoft AI R&D Center represents the firm’s latest efforts regarding AI projects in Taiwan.
In September last year it launched the “AI Talent Cultivation Project” with Taipei Medical University. It also inked an “AI Strategic Alliance” letter of intent with the National Applied Research Laboratories last month.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS