Taiwan intends to build Kaohsiung into a national silicon photonics hub at a time when the country is gearing up to develop artificial intelligence, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Yeh Chun-hsien (葉俊顯) said yesterday.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is discussing the establishment of a silicon photonics hub in Taiwan, Yeh said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, adding that to his knowledge the MOEA is, in principle, interested in developing such a center in Kaohsiung.
Yeh made the comments when answering a question from Kaohsiung-elected lawmaker Lin Tai-hua (林岱樺) of the ruling Democratic Progress Party (DPP), who praised the city for its advantages in developing computing capabilities and as a good choice for a silicon photonics hub.
Photo: Wu Hsin-tien, Taipei Times
Artificial intelligence (AI) server supplier and iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world’s largest contract electronics maker, is set to build a computing center in Kaohsiung.
With silicon photonics to replace copper with optical fibers, data can be transmitted faster, with less delay and using less power during the current AI era.
With the Executive Yuan pushing for AI development, silicon photonics, quantum computing and robotics among others have been designated critical technologies, according to a council report submitted to the Legislative Yuan.
Earlier this year, the Cabinet approved a plan to establish a local Silicon Valley in southern Taiwan, which will begin at Tainan’s Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City project and extend outward to the surrounding S-shaped semiconductor cluster, linking science parks and technology industrial parks in Chiayi County, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County.
In Kaohsiung, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is developing the advanced 2-nanometer process, slated to begin commercial production later this year. Another 2nm process development area for TSMC is Hsinchu.
Commenting on concerns raised by ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝衣鳯) about the possible burst of the AI bubble, Yeh said that current AI development is different from the dot.com bubbles which finally popped without many end-users as the stock market crashed in early 2000s.
Yeh said that with enterprises rushing to set up data centers in the initial stage, AI applications are gradually trickling down from the cloud to end users, referring to smartphones and notebook computers among many others.
According to the NDC, through government efforts to promote AI development, the technology is expected to create NT$7 trillion (US$228 million) in production value and 180,000 high-paying job openings in 2028, making Taiwan the 14th largest AI developer.
In 2040, production value is expected to top NT$15 trillion with 500,000 high-paying jobs created, making Taiwan the fifth largest AI developer, the council said.
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