Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) met with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday and proposed cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI) development, the company said in a statement yesterday.
Huang was invited to attend a round table on AI and Quantum investment opportunities presided over by Macron in Paris to discuss technology development trends, Powerchip said.
Huang, the only entrepreneur from East Asia invited by France to the forum, said that many US companies have worked with their Taiwanese counterparts in tech development and taken advantage of Taiwan’s well-developed information technology (IT) platform to support their global operations.
Photo courtesy of Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp via CNA
They include IT service provider IBM Corp, software developer Microsoft Corp, search engine provider Google, consumer electronics giant Apple Inc, and AI chip designers Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Nvidia Corp, Powerchip said.
For example, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) has repeatedly approached Taiwan’s semiconductor industry for help in supplying high-end chips as his firm develops more advanced AI graphics processing units, Huang said.
If France learned from the US in making good use of Taiwan’s well-developed technology platform and its tech companies’ experience, France and Taiwan mutually benefit from technology upgrades, cost controls and service improvements, he said.
France has built a robust foundation in fundamental technologies, but its cooperative ties with Taiwan are not as close as those of the US, Huang said.
France could use Taiwan’s advantages in the tech sector to become more of a force in emerging technologies, such as AI applications, he added.
Powerchip said the round table was also attended by representatives from US and European companies such as IBM, Dutch semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV and e-commerce behemoth Amazon.com Inc.
Representatives of sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were also present, it said.
The forum was part of the Choose France summit held at the Chateau de Versailles to drum up foreign investment in France.
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