Taiwan: technology profile

AI

The Legislative Yuan passed the Artificial Intelligence Basic Act on December 23, 2025. The Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) translates it as the AI Fundamental Act. It was promulgated and took effect on January 14, 2026. It names the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) as the central competent authority. The law sets seven principles for government AI work, among them privacy protection, transparency and accountability. Article 16 directs MODA to promote an AI risk classification framework.

The Executive Yuan approved the Ten AI Initiatives Promotion Plan (2025-2028) on January 28, 2026. It covers smart applications, critical technologies (silicon photonics, quantum and AI robotics) and a digital foundation that includes sovereign AI. NSTC describes sovereign AI as national computing capacity, self-developed models, locally owned training data and data kept in Taiwan. A national Cloud Computing Center was inaugurated in Tainan on December 12, 2025 with 15 megawatts of installed power capacity. Nvidia and Foxconn announced plans in May 2025 for a supercomputer with 10,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs (graphics processing units, used to train AI models) for Taiwanese researchers and companies.

Chips and hardware

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) held 72.5 percent of the global pure-play wafer foundry (contract chipmaking) market in the second quarter of 2026, according to TrendForce figures reported by CNA. The report named Nvidia and Apple among TSMC's largest clients. TSMC says its 2-nanometer process entered volume production in the fourth quarter of 2025, with an enhanced version, N2P, scheduled for the second half of 2026. In its second-quarter 2026 results, the company reported revenue of NT$1,270.38 billion. It said processes of 7 nanometers and more advanced made up 77% of wafer revenue.

TSMC said in March 2025 that it intended to raise its planned U.S. investment to US$165 billion. On July 16, 2026, Chairman C.C. Wei announced a further US$100 billion, taking its Arizona commitment to US$265 billion with no firm timetable, CNA reported. A U.S. Commerce Department fact sheet dated January 15, 2026 said Taiwanese chip and technology companies would invest at least $250 billion directly in the United States. It said Taiwan would provide at least $250 billion in credit guarantees. It gave no time frame and said the U.S. reciprocal tariff on Taiwanese goods would not exceed 15 percent.

In June 2025, Taiwan added Huawei and SMIC to its export control entity list. That means Taiwanese businesses need government approval to ship to them, TechCrunch reported, citing Bloomberg.

Robots and autonomy

President Lai Ching-te (William Lai) opened the National Center for AI Robotics in Tainan on April 10, 2026. At the opening, Tsai Hung-yin said a government robotics program would invest NT$20 billion from 2026 to 2029. The Taipei Times identified Tsai as president of the National Applied Research Laboratories. An act promulgated on September 11, 2026 directs the central government to allocate NT$240 billion over six years to develop and buy unmanned vehicles. It gives priority to domestically made systems. The premier countersigned it, though a Cabinet official said concerns about the legislation remained.

Space

The Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) is building FORMOSAT-8, a planned constellation of eight optical Earth observation satellites. The first, FORMOSAT-8A, launched from California on a SpaceX mission on November 29, 2025, Taiwan time. TASA's program timeline lists the second satellite for launch in February 2027.

Energy technology

The two Maanshan reactors went offline in July 2024 and May 2025 when their 40-year licenses expired. The legislature amended the law in May 2025 to allow 20-year license renewals. Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) then applied in March 2026 to renew the plant's license. World Nuclear News reported on September 28, 2026 that the Nuclear Safety Commission had completed its review of the restart plan. Further safety inspections are required. Economic Affairs Minister Kung Ming-hsin has said the plant could resume operations as soon as 2028.

What to watch

• TSMC's N2P ramp and third-quarter results against its revenue guidance of US$44.6 billion to US$45.8 billion.
• How future U.S. Section 232 duties on semiconductors (tariffs imposed on national security grounds) treat Taiwanese producers. The Commerce fact sheet says they will favor those investing in the United States. A May 28, 2026 U.S. notice implementing other parts of the deal did not mention semiconductors, CNA reported.
• The drone act's main provisions, which take effect six months after promulgation.
• Follow-up inspections at Maanshan and any decision on a new operating license.
• Delivery against the Ten AI Initiatives plan through 2028.