Taiwan’s technology news coverage in February of 2024 touched on items and developments including, for instance: Taiwan’s work on its TrustworthyAI Dialogue Engine to deal with disinformation from mainland China; SpaceX’s potential breach of contract requirements around StarShield tech for Taiwan; the density of Hsinchu in Taiwan in terms of semiconductor and critical technology development; and more.
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Critical technologies, globally: February 2024
- Taiwan’s Wistron Corp’n inks MOU with India’s Karnataka government for manufacturing plant in the state, set to produce laptops, IoT items and EV components
- Taiwan’s Gogoro e-scooter and battery-swap company to enter Latin America market in Q2, partnering with Copec energy major for Chile and Colombia entry
The letter, obtained by CNBC and first reported by Forbes, claimed that by not making Starshield available to U.S. military forces in Taiwan, SpaceX could violate its Pentagon contract, which requires “global access” to Starshield technology.
“I understand, however, that SpaceX is possibly withholding broadband internet services in and around Taiwan — possibly in breach of SpaceX’s contractual obligations with the U.S. government,” read the letter, which was signed by Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wi., who chairs the House CCP committee.
- Taiwan: Taipower assigns land in Hsinchu for EV hub partnership with US’s Nuuve, to host chargers including vehicle-to-grid, allowing unused swap batteries to act as grid components
- Taiwan is building its own ‘Trustworthy AI Dialogue Engine’ AI model as part of $555M plan to both bolster identity and influence in the face of disinformation, and to expand into software development
- From ‘Exploring new regions: The greenfield opportunity in semiconductors‘ from McKinsey & Co:
“Strong semiconductor ecosystems can be found worldwide, and they come in different shapes and sizes. One of the most outstanding is Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan.”
“Within just three square miles, Hsinchu contains more than 150 semiconductor companies and suppliers, more than 600 manufacturers, three universities, and more than 160,000 highly skilled full-time employees.”
- Taiwan: BSOS takes Best Solution in SAP Startup Accelerator with working capital platform aiding businesses with supply chain funding, featuring blockchain integration with CTBC Bank
- Taiwan’s Touche Solutions’ enters Japan’s robotics sector with Touche ‘tactile skin’ to be integrated into Denso’s new ‘collaborative robot’ models as foundational safety measure
- 2024 Taiwan International Geothermal Conference is set for February 20-21
- Taiwan’s Sysgration electronics maker preps for Texas manufacturing facility occupancy in nearshoring move to minimize risks to supply chains
Taiwan: “…we welcome startups and talents from Europe, the United States, Japan and ASEAN, to work with Taiwan, from IC design and manufacturing to packaging and testing — the entire pipeline.”
- Taiwan: Near-shore floating solar panel project now fully online, covering 171 hectares of water surface and generating energy equivalent to that consumed by 65K households
- Taiwan: Cabinet approves $372M, 4-year implementation phase for Asia Silicon Valley Development Plan, aiming to boost the Internet of Things industry and develop a comprehensive startup ecosystem
“In 2022, the bulk of its research and development engineers were based in China but [Taiwan’s] Alchip has begun moving roles overseas, many to Japan…”
Video: ‘Inside Micron Taiwan’s Semiconductor Factory’, part 1 of a 5-part series looking at Taiwan’s cutting-edge mega-factories
- India: Taiwan’s Taisys preps for $100M investment in India subsidiary to focus on semiconductor design and production for the auto and electric vehicle sectors
- Samsung wins its first 2nm AI chip order from Japan’s Preferred Networks Inc in switch from PFN’s past TSMC supply of advanced chips
StormWall: Analysis of DDoS cyber-attacks in 2023 in Asia Pacific
Asia’s tech news: Other editions
Deloitte: Global Semiconductor Industry Outlook in 2024 –
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