Development fund expands coverage

INVESTING IN TAIWAN: As of August, 10 AI start-ups have received funding, of which NT$255m came from the NDF, while NT$570m was from the private sector

• By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter, with CNA

• • Add TT as Preferred Source

  • 

  • 

  • 

The government would soon be able to invest in offshore artificial intelligence (AI) companies that conduct their primary business activities in Taiwan, following an amendment aimed at boosting investment in AI start-ups.

The National Development Fund (NDF) in 2024 earmarked NT$10 billion (US$314.17 million) for the Ministry of Digital Affairs to invest in AI start-ups and the digital economy over 10 years. The program launched last year, with seven years for investments and three years for divestments.

Administration for Digital Industries Director-General Lin Jiunn-shiow (林俊秀) yesterday said the government is also working with venture capital firms, accelerators and corporate venture capital investors to identify and jointly fund start-ups with high potential.

A room full of artificial intelligence servers in an unidentified location is pictured in an undated photo.

Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times

The collaboration helps expand the corporate scale of start-ups, and expedite their progress in public trading and breaking into the international market, Lin said.

“The project originally targeted Taiwanese AI start-ups and companies in the digital economy sector. However, it has come to our attention that some are raising funds overseas and tapping international markets. As a result, they might set up offshore entities while maintaining their operational and research-and-development bases in Taiwan,” Lin said.

“This is also a demonstration of Taiwan’s power in AI-related industries. As such, we decided to consider investing in more companies, so long as they are affiliated with Taiwan,” he added.

The plan would expand to offshore entities whose main business activities and investment targets are in Taiwan, including those that set up research-and-development (R&D) headquarters in Taiwan, spend more than 50 percent of their total R&D budget here and recruit more than 50 percent of their employees from Taiwan; and if 50 percent of their total revenue are generated from offices based in Taiwan, the ministry said.

As of August, 10 AI start-ups have received funding from the government and private investors, including Turing Drive (台灣智慧駕駛) and Linker Vision Co (鑫蘊林科).

In terms of funding, NT$255 million came from the National Development Fund, while NT$570 million was from the private sector.

From January to August, the government invested about NT$194 million from the National Development Fund in seven start-ups, Lin said.

Turing Drive’s autonomous driving demonstration vehicles began operating in Japan’s Miyakojima and Uwajima Islands in the first quarter of this year and have obtained Japanese plates, he said.

The company has also brought on board Japanese autonomous driving technology firm Tier IV as an investor, and is working with it to expand operations to Nagoya and Singapore, he added.

Linker Vision has joined AT&T, Cisco and Nvidia in building AI grid infrastructure, combining Cisco’s edge platform, Nvidia’s GPU computing capabilities and AT&T’s video intelligence technology, Lin said.