Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) has applied to set up a research and development (R&D) center in Taiwan as part of the government’s “A+ Industrial Innovative R&D Program,” the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry did not disclose the investment amount or what the plan is.
The program covers three major fields — artificial intelligence (AI), new generation semiconductors, including high-power and high-frequency integrated circuits (ICs), and new 5G network structures.
Photo: Dado Ruvic, Reuters
It aims to encourage local and foreign technology firms to invest in Taiwan and for the nation to become a global R&D hub, the Executive Yuan said.
A qualified applicant would receive a subsidy worth up to 50 percent of its investment.
AMD is planning to invest about NT$5 billion (US$155 million) and the ministry has given the company conditions that must be met to receive the subsidy, local media reported, citing an unnamed government source.
AMD was to work with Taiwanese IC designers to develop the domestic IC industry, the source said, adding that the servers which use its AI chips would also be produced in Taiwan.
The ministry also required AMD to recruit enough foreign talent to account for at least 20 percent of its R&D workforce in Taiwan, so that the tech giant would not have to compete with Taiwanese firms for local talent, the source said.
The source said that the ministry wanted AMD to work with Taiwanese universities to help cultivate talent.
AMD has responded positively to the ministry’s conditions, the source added.
AMD CEO Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is scheduled to attend the Computex Taipei trade show early next month and is expected to discuss R&D plans with the administration of President William Lai (賴清德), who was sworn yesterday, local media reports said.
The ministry has approved several investment applications filed by several tech heavyweights wanting to invest in Taiwan under the program.
Investors include Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV, US wafer fabrication equipment supplier Lam Research Corp and US semiconductor equipment supplier Applied Materials Inc.
In 2021, US chip giant Nvidia Corp secured approval for its investment plan under the “Supreme A+ Program.”
The AI innovation and R&D center program, which began in 2020, aims to attract innovators to invest in state-of-the-art technologies relating to semiconductors, communications and AI in Taiwan.
Nvidia’s investment plan aimed to set up an AI R&D center through a NT$24.3 billion investment, with the ministry providing a subsidy worth NT$6.7 billion. The company is to cooperate with enterprises and universities through its investments.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along
AI SERVER DEMAND: ‘Overall industry demand continues to outpace supply and we are expanding capacity to meet it,’ the company’s chief executive officer said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported that net profit last quarter rose 27 percent from the same quarter last year on the back of demand for cloud services and high-performance computing products. Net profit surged to NT$44.36 billion (US$1.48 billion) from NT$35.04 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, net profit grew 5 percent from NT$42.1 billion. Earnings per share expanded to NT$3.19 from NT$2.53 a year earlier and NT$3.03 in the first quarter. However, a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar since early May has weighed on the company’s performance, Hon Hai chief financial officer David Huang (黃德才)
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
RSS