In the artificial intelligence (AI) era, enterprises and nations already at the top might get stronger, but “Taiwan still has plenty of advantages with its excellence in hardware manufacturing,” the head of a technology company told a forum in Taipei yesterday.
AI will be immersed in people’s daily life as the Internet has become in the past 30 years, Pegatron Corp (和碩) chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) said at the Taiwan AI Academy Annual Conference.
“But different from the Internet age, which saw disruptions [in terms of market share] in the tech industry, AI would likely only make those who are already strong stronger, be they enterprises or countries,” he said.
Photo: CNA
That is because AI development requires massive amounts of electricity and computing power, he said.
“Educational institutions, enterprises or nations without the needed funding would simply lose their initiative,” he added.
For example, developing a large language model such as Open AI’s GPT-4 requires US$78 million for its training, and US$190 million for Google’s Gemini Ultra, Tung said.
The massive use of computational power and electricity has seen Open AI’s Sam Altman invest in nuclear companies and Microsoft Corp strike a deal to restart a reactor at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania, said Tung, who has advocated retaining nuclear power in Taiwan.
The cost of the needed computational power for AI infrastructure, which has to be bolstered by a sufficient supply of energy and highly advanced chips, is extraordinarily high.
“So even Apple has decided to withdraw from developing AI infrastructure, and redirected its strategy to partner with OpenAI and integrate ChatGPT into the operating systems for its devices,” Tung said. “This also tells us that as long as you have a strong grip on the market and the platform, you might not necessarily be the underdog in the AI-dominant world.”
For Tung, Taiwan’s semiconductor and hardware manufacturing sectors are likewise in an advantageous position.
As AI would be used widely in all kinds of applications and industries, Taiwan is expected to not only gain in cloud equipment, but also edge devices such as personal computers and smartphones, which would all be transformed to support AI operations, he said.
“The overall output value of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is expected to hit NT$5.3 trillion [US$167.26 billion] this year, which is even higher than the NT$4.8 trillion estimated at the end of 2023,” which was said to be a new high, he said, attributing the growth to the AI boom.
He said that when Open AI was founded in 2015, the average age of the three founders was 29, “but what they have created would not have been possible without the chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) founded by the now 92-year-old Morris Chang (張忠謀).”
The same applies to electric vehicles (EVs), Tung said.
“Taiwan actually lags behind in the use of EVs, with an adoption rate of less than 10 percent, but as Taiwan is strong in manufacturing electronic parts and components, it can still be a good partner for the world’s main vehicle brands,” he said.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
UPGRADED MISSILE: The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology is reportedly to conduct a live-fire test of the Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile on Thursday next week The US Army is planning to build new facilities to boost explosives production and strengthen its supply chain, a move aimed at addressing munitions shortages and supporting obligations to partners including Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel, Defense News reported. The army has issued a sources sought notice for a proposed Center of Excellence at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky, the report said. The facility would serve as a hub within the US industrial base for the production of key military explosives, including research department explosives (RDX) and high melting explosives (HMX), while also supporting research and development of next-generation materials. The proposed
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
RSS