This roundup details Taiwan’s use of low-earth satellites in response to the April 3 earthquake, TSMC plans to manufacture leading-edge semiconductors in the U.S., and a new program to match up tech startups in the U.S. and Taiwan.
Space Industry
Taiwan’s government has used low-earth satellites to help with rescue operations for the first time, following the April 3 earthquake. The Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) transported satellite ground equipment to Tianxiang (天祥), one of the areas worst affected by the earthquake, to receive signals from OneWeb low-earth satellites. According to MODA, the satellites enabled rescue personnel to set up a WiFi network. It also allowed people stuck in the area to report their status.
AI
A German Federal Ministry of Education and Research delegation met with National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) April 8. They agreed they could work together to apply AI to advanced semiconductor production and self-driving cars.
Semiconductors
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company will manufacture some 2-nanometer chips in its Arizona fabrication plant, starting in 2028. This means that, contrary to its original plans, the company will be manufacturing some of the most advanced chips in the U.S. TSMC has also agreed to open a third plant in the U.S. that will be in use in 2030. The U.S. government will subsidize TSMC with $6.6 billion in grants and up to $5 billion in loans.
Taiwanese exports to the U.S. have overtaken exports to China for the first time since 2003. The shift is partly driven by sales of computer hardware, which have increased by over 400% compared to the same month last year, following a large increase in products utilizing AI. Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜), director general of the Ministry of Finance’s Department of Statistics, added Taiwan had benefited from clients in the global supply chain rebuilding their inventories.
As part of the above trend, TSMC’s profits for the first quarter of this year are expected to be up 5%, according to a London Stock Exchange Group “SmartEstimate” drawn from 22 analysts. The estimate weights the opinions of analysts who have been correct most often more highly.
President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has chosen TOPCO Group (崇越集團) Chairperson J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) as his minister of economic affairs. TOPCO sells precision materials, manufacturing equipment, and components for the semiconductor, LCD and LED industries and supplies TSMC.
Startup Snapshot
Kaohsiung-based startup Pumpkin VR demonstrated its 3D AI assistant at the Smart City Summit and Expo last week. It allows companies to create customized virtual assistants that use generative AI to interact in real-time through text, voice, and gestures.
Photonics
The Department of Chemistry at National Taiwan University (國立臺灣大學) has developed a new supramolecule for creating low cost, high-efficiency OLED (organic light emitting diodes) devices, which can be used to make brighter and more colorful displays on mobile phones, computers and TVs. Developed with the help of Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council (國家科學及技術委員會), the supramolecule consists of a “highly symmetric cage-like” host molecule with “electron-accepting properties.” The advantage of OLEDs, if they can become more efficient, is that the light they emit is more uniform, and they also produce little heat and are more flexible than LEDs (light emitting diodes).
Computing
The U.S. National Science Foundation — one of the U.S. governments’ major research funders — has launched a program to connect U.S. and Taiwanese startups. It hopes to finance companies involved in areas such as “deep tech,” biotechnology and quantum computing.
Medical Tech
The Medical and Pharmaceutical Industry Technology Development Center (PITDC) Taiwan has signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore-based Esco Lifesciences Group to work together on stem cell production. They will combine PITDC’s stem cell innovation process with Esco’s advanced bioreactor technology. It has applications in preventing organ transplant rejection and treating bone marrow fibrosis.
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