Taiwan is betting big on artificial intelligence and claiming record growth — good news for Taiwanese tech and investors, though the growth figures are unusually large.

• Taiwan's government is pushing a new "ten major construction projects" plan built around AI, with the goal of training at least 500,000 AI workers by 2040.
• The aim is to turn Taiwan into an "AI island," with small and mid-sized firms helped to go digital through a NT$100 billion upgrade fund.
• Taiwan also wants to lead in quantum computing, silicon photonics, and robots.
• Growth is being touted as the best in decades, with Taiwan claiming a top-4 spot in global competitiveness rankings and expecting to crack the world's 20 largest economies next year.
• A stronger economy means more tax money, which is going into defense — US weapons purchases, home-grown arms, and a drone industry.

Outlook: Taiwan will extend its investment incentive programs through next year and widen them to foreign firms, courting overseas money as it doubles down on chips, AI, and defense.