Artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp yesterday said it is working on a number of new investments in Taiwan, including a second supercomputer center and possibly a corporate headquarters, given the company’s strong ties to the local semiconductor ecosystem.
Nvidia plans to build a supercomputer center like the “Taipei-1” project in Kaohsiung, CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said at a news conference in Taipei.
No final decision about the location has been made yet, he said.
Photo: Annabelle Chih, Bloomberg
Nvidia is also considering setting up headquarters in Taiwan, he said.
“If you can find me a nice plot of land, I can build a headquarters here in Taipei,” Huang said, adding that Nvidia employs hundreds of workers in Taipei and nearby areas.
The strong local ecosystem is one of the major factors behind Nvidia’s decision to invest more in Taiwan, Huang said.
For instance, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is a significant partner of Nvidia, given the chipmaker’s advanced manufacturing technology and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology, as well as its good work ethic and flexibility, he said.
Taiwan also has “incredible” chip testing house and hardware system makers from Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) to Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) and Wiwynn Corp (緯穎科技) and a lot more, he said.
Huang on Monday night said that Nvidia planned to recruit about 1,000 engineers in Taiwan over a five-year period for chip design, system design and software engineering.
The company has already built a significant AI team in Taiwan and plans to build a data center here as the nation’s expertise in AI research is very good, he said.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
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