Taiwan is putting serious public money behind AI training, a positive signal for its tech industry and for chip and hardware firms that depend on local engineering talent.

• President Lai Ching-te said the government will spend over NT$40 billion next year on a new package of AI infrastructure projects.
• The goal is to train at least 500,000 people in AI use by 2040 and push smart technology into every industry.
• A separate "AI talent ark" program started this year, aimed at building skills that AI itself cannot replace.
• The push was announced while honoring a Taiwanese student robotics team that won at a world competition in Turkey after customs held up their equipment and they rebuilt a robot from spare parts.

Outlook: The spending is set out in next year's central government budget, so the plan's real test is whether lawmakers approve it and whether trained workers show up fast enough for Taiwan's chip and hardware firms.