AMD is planning to establish an R&D facility in Taiwan as part of the government’s ‘A+ global R&D and innovation partnership program.’
The news was announced by Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) who declined to provide any further details about the center, other than to say the application process was underway.
However, according to a report from UDN, an anonymous government source said the investment was expected to total around $155 million.
The news outlet also reported that MOEA had specified four requirements for AMD: cooperation with Taiwanese integrated circuit design companies; development of AI servers that can be manufactured in Taiwan; station senior managers in Taiwan and recruit 20 percent of its R&D workforce in the country; and cooperate with Taiwanese universities.
UDM’s unnamed source said AMD had responded positively to those terms. The company’s CEO, Lisa Su, is scheduled to attend Computex Taipei in early June and is expected to discuss plans for the facility with Taiwan’s new President Lai Ching-te.
The global R&D and innovation partnership program was devised to support foreign enterprises to develop advanced technologies, such as AI, new-generation semiconductors, and new 5G network structures, in Taiwan. Under the terms of the program, companies can apply for subsidies of up to 50 percent of the total R&D budget they’ve invested.
However, all of the program’s initial funding has already been allocated, with MOEA now waiting for the new government administration to prepare a new science and technology budget.
Last month, it was reported that Nvidia was planning to build a second R&D facility in Taiwan. As part of the Taiwanese government’s innovation partnership program, in 2022 Nvidia invested $715m in a research and development center in the region, focused on the advancement of GPUs and artificial intelligence (AI) chip technology.
The company received a subsidy of approximately $205 million to establish that facility which currently employs around 400 people.
Little information has been revealed about Nvidia’s second proposed R&D facility however, Qiu Qiuhui, the director of technology at MOEA was quoted as saying the company’s investment plan included sharing supercomputer resources with industry partners in the region and training AI talent at both the National Taiwan University and Tsinghua University.
