Speaking at the Industrial Technology Research Institute's academician investiture ceremony, Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te stressed that in the face of the AI wave and the restructuring of global supply chains, Taiwan must pick up the pace — a positive signal for the semiconductor and technology industries.

• Lai said Taiwan's economy has grown rapidly in recent years and that the country leads internationally in semiconductors, AI and IC design, but that this is the result of decades of accumulated effort.
• This year's three new academicians include TSMC's Y.P. Chin, who led his team from 28-nanometer to 2-nanometer production, and Realtek chairman Yeh Po-Yen, who built a homegrown IC design company into one of the world's top ten fabless firms.
• The government is promoting the five trusted industries and infrastructure for the new AI era, and hopes ITRI will help small and medium-sized enterprises accelerate their transformation.
• ITRI won a Global 100 Innovator award for the 10th time; the quadruped robots and drone swarms it exhibited are already capable of being deployed for disaster relief in fires and mountainous areas.

Outlook: Taiwan will continue to put its resources behind advanced process technology and AI, and will use its position as an "indispensable supply chain" to deepen ties with democratic countries.