Taiwan is riding an AI-driven chip boom into its strongest growth in decades, good news for its economy and for the countries hosting its new plants.

• Taiwan's economy grew more than 14% in the first half of the year, the best start in half a century, with full-year growth expected near 11% — a 39-year high.
• The windfall is big enough that the government plans to hand every person NT$10,000 in cash next year to spread the AI gains.
• Global chip sales are on track to top $1.5 trillion this year as AI computing eats up every chip that can be made.
• Taiwan's chipmakers are spreading out: TSMC has now committed $265 billion in the U.S. after another $100 billion for Arizona, is building in Japan, and expects its Dresden plant in Germany to start production late next year.
• The pitch behind it all is resilience — plants in many countries mean war, disease, or disaster in one place can't shut off the world's chip supply.

Outlook: Taiwan will keep trading chip access for closer ties abroad while pushing into quantum tech, AI robots, and the power and water capacity those factories demand.