PC vendor Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday said it expects closer collaboration with Nvidia Corp, after the latter announced plans to build its new Taiwan office in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei.
However, the company hopes Nvidia would not poach its talent as the artificial intelligence (AI) chip company is “too attractive,” Asustek chairman Jonney Shih (施崇棠) told reporters after its annual shareholders’ meeting.
Shih also told shareholders that the company expects continued growth in server business this year, after revenue in the segment last year increased fivefold from a year earlier.
Photo: Vanessa Cho, Taipei Times
Earlier this month, the company projected that servers would contribute about 15 percent of its revenue this year.
Shih described the current AI trend as “the poor man’s Chinese kung fu,” referring to the emergence of cost-efficient AI models developed in China that enable effective and resource-saving applications.
Shih took mixture-of-experts models as an example, saying that they allow training and inferencing with relatively few parameters, helping to spur the development of smaller AI applications and launching a new industrial revolution.
AI is driving the revolution by directly producing intelligence, a process now called an “AI factory” or “intelligence manufacturing,” and which is expected to make the production process entirely autonomous, he said.
The scale and impact of AI are comparable to the revolution sparked by the invention of computers, which are now able to produce intelligence and regarded as “brains,” he said.
“This is an opportunity that you can only expect once in 100 years,” he said.
In the robotics sector, Shih said Asustek developed its Zenbo robot in the early stages, but faced challenges due to insufficient intelligence.
However, with the advancement of artificial general intelligence, language can now function as a semiotic system to enable general intelligence in AI, making the development of humanoid robots more viable, he said.
As for the potential impact of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, Shih said the US president is highly “unpredictable,” and manufacturers should expect to face short-term pain.
Asustek’s key strategic goals this year include advancing AI-enabled products and services, such as PCs, servers, edge AI and AI of things applications, Shih said.
Shareholders yesterday approved the company’s plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$34 per share, the highest in three years.
The company’s revenue last year grew 22 percent year-on-year to NT$587.1 billion (US$19.63 billion) and net profit surged 97 percent to NT$31.4 billion, or earnings per share of NT$42.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
RSS