The government is to allocate about NT$30 billion (US$922 million) annually over three years for artificial intelligence (AI) development and seek to enhance cooperation with the incoming administration of US president-elect Donald Trump, National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) told Nikkei Asia in an exclusive interview published yesterday.
The government plans to budget about NT$1 billion annually during President William Lai’s (賴清德) term, he was quoted as saying.
The funds would go toward bolstering infrastructure to achieve “AI sovereignty,” with the goal of boosting overall computing power to 480 petaflops from 20 petaflops over the next four years, Wu said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Although Taiwan does not have many official diplomatic allies, it can still build friendly ties with other democracies, thereby improving national security, he said.
The government has embarked on collaborations with global AI giants such as Nvidia to build an AI data center and supercomputers, which would be used to train Taiwan’s own trustworthy AI dialogue engine (TAIDE), he said.
In terms of AI sovereignty, it is crucial for Taiwan to construct its own Chinese-language model that uses traditional characters, and TAIDE would be deployed at the National Center for High-Performance Computing to develop AI applications, he added.
Asked about Trump’s inauguration in January, Wu said he “certainly expects” to cooperate with the US, as it shares many goals with Taiwan.
Separately, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) on Wednesday said that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) would build a new plant in Taiwan every year over the next decade.
National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清), who is a TSMC board director, yesterday at a meeting at the legislature’s Economics Committee said that TSMC would set up new plants in Kaohsiung, Tainan and Taichung in the next three years, with the government ensuring stable power and water supply.
Asked by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ye Yuan-zhi (葉元之) about the US Department of Commerce’s approval of a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s fabs in Arizona, Liu said that TSMC’s 3-nanometer process technology would be transferred to the US as planned, but the 2-nanometer process technology would not.
The A16 process technology could be transferred to the US if necessary, he said, adding that TSMC would accept orders if the US government is willing to purchase its products.
Liu also said that Trump’s upcoming presidency is a “major factor” that could drive Taiwan’s economy to grow by more than 3 percent next year.
If Trump fulfils his campaign pledges to impose a 60 percent tariff on Chinese products, it would give Taiwan a great advantage because of the order-transfer effect, he said.
However, Taiwan could encounter trade volume fluctuations or a 10 percent tariff on exports to the US, Liu said, adding that he would discuss these uncertainties with the traditional manufacturing industries.
Asked by KMT Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) about local talent sufficiency in semiconductors, Liu said the sector is projected to recruit 6,000 people per year and continue to increase later on.
Although the labor supply is currently enough for the sector, it could squeeze out other industries, he said, adding that he would discuss the problem with relevant agencies.
To attract more foreign talent to Taiwan, the NDC is to relax the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) to hire more international mid-level skilled workers, Liu said.
The government is seeking to clearly define “mid-level skilled workers,” as it had found that technical challenges could not be overcome solely by introducing more workers, he said, adding that draft amendments to the act are expected to be announced by the middle of next month.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A Vietnamese migrant worker yesterday won NT$12 million (US$379,627) on a Lunar New Year scratch card in Kaohsiung as part of Taiwan Lottery Co’s (台灣彩券) “NT$12 Million Grand Fortune” (1200萬大吉利) game. The man was the first top-prize winner of the new game launched on Jan. 6 to mark the Lunar New Year. Three Vietnamese migrant workers visited a Taiwan Lottery shop on Xinyue Street in Kaohsiung’s Gangshan District (崗山), a store representative said. The player bought multiple tickets and, after winning nothing, held the final lottery ticket in one hand and rubbed the store’s statue of the Maitreya Buddha’s belly with the other,
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CLASSIFIED BRIEFING: The ministry said the special budget focuses on building a comprehensive defense system and strengthening the domestic defense industry The Ministry of National Defense yesterday released information on seven categories of weapons systems to be procured under a stalled NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.57 billion) special defense budget, including precision artillery, long-range missiles, air defense anti-tank missiles and more than 200,000 uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Executive Yuan approved a draft version of the budget on Nov. 27 last year and submitted it to the legislature for review. The legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday invited Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to deliver a classified briefing and answer questions at a closed-door session. Koo said he hoped to provide lawmakers
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