The National Science and Technology Council on Tuesday opened the Taiwan AI Center of Excellence (Taiwan AICoE), tasked with developing the nation’s artificial intelligence (AI) capability.
At a launch ceremony in Taipei, Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) said that AI applications have advanced rapidly and become an integral part of everyday life since the government set 2017 as “year zero” for Taiwan’s AI industry.
The launch last year of ChatGPT, developed by US-based OpenAI, caught China and Japan off guard, and has presented new challenges such as questions regarding the ethics, rule of law and human rights associated with the use of AI, Wu said.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
The council is vigorously formulating ethical and general principles in an intergovernmental effort to codify terms governing the use of AI to bring Taiwan in line with global AI initiatives, while leveraging Taiwan’s international influence in the field of AI governance, he said.
Wu said he hopes that the center, which is run by the council, would serve as a platform to streamline efforts by government agencies seeking to formulate rules governing AI applications and facilitate collaborations on international AI projects.
Taiwan AICoE head Tsai Zse-hong (蔡志宏) said the center would seek to initiate international collaborations on enhancing core AI technologies, creating an AI talent pool in the Asia-Pacific region by tapping into leading international AI institutions and joining “human-centered” AI organizations to forge reliable partnerships around the technology with like-minded countries.
Taiwan AICoE is in talks with international institutions on several AI proposals and would serve as Taiwan’s point of contact for international projects as well as provide guidance on the planning and development of the local AI sector, Tsai said.
Asked about progress on the National Science and Technology Council’s plan to develop a “Taiwanese ChatGPT” for public use, Tsai said it is close to putting together a team to collate data suited to Taiwanese society and culture, at which point it would test such software.
Wu has set a deadline for projects to start producing tangible results by the end of this year, Tsai added.
Expansions are planned for the AI-powered Taiwania 2 supercomputer developed by the National Applied Research Laboratories to accommodate the project and create a Taiwanese ChatGPT, he said.
Current efforts are focused on testing computing power and datasets, which Taiwania 2’s more than 2,000 graphics processing units should be able to cover, he said.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS