In keeping with President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of transforming Taiwan into an “artificial intelligence [AI] island,” the Executive Yuan has pushed forward a new “10 major AI infrastructure projects” program, which is expected to be introduced in the second half of the year.
The plan is being discussed and formulated by the National Development Council (NDC) and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC).
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on May 20 said the government is mulling a “10 major AI infrastructure projects” program, combining innovative research-and-development with partially physical infrastructure, and that the Cabinet would propose a comprehensive plan as soon as possible to transform Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
The NSTC yesterday said the program encompasses four emerging technologies — intelligent robots, quantum technology, silicon photonics and “sovereign AI.”
The “smart robot program” approved by the Executive Yuan last month is one of the key items of the new program.
The program aims to cultivate start-up robot companies with system development capabilities, expand the domestic output value of smart robots from NT$4 billion (US$134 million) to NT$50 billion within five years for professional service robots and establish a comprehensive supply chain and industrial ecosystem.
The NSTC said the industrial development of silicon photonics technology is already in full swing, and the government would introduce policies to further support its development.
The council also encourages academics to study high-speed, low-power optical connections through heterogeneous integration, which can be applied to critical fields such as AI chip connection and high-speed computing.
QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY
The NSTC has also established a national quantum technology team and is integrating research facilities and industry through a dedicated “quantum technology industrial platform.”
A Thematic Center for Quantum Computer and a Quantum Photonics Research Project have been established at Academia Sinica’s Southern Campus, and the construction of a quantum experiment building is expected to be finished in 2028, it said.
The new program would also encompass six major infrastructure programs, including AI supercomputers and hyperscale data centers.
US chipmaker Nvidia Corp last month announced that it would team up with the NSTC, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) to build an AI supercomputer in Taiwan.
The government is also building supercomputers in Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City in Tainan’s Shalun District (沙崙) and Hsinchu Science Park, with additional facilities planned for central and northern Taiwan.
The government’s supercomputer is expected to reach 480 petaflops (480 quadrillion floating-point operations per second) by 2029, and along with the computing power of private sectors, they are expected to reach a total of 1.2 exaflops, the NSTC said.
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