Taiwan’s AI Ambitions: A New Era of Enterprise-Focused Language Models
The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) of Taiwan has made significant strides in developing a dedicated Trustworthy AI Dialogue Engine (TAIDE) for the Taiwanese public and businesses. This ambitious project aims to create a reliable AI dialogue model for value-added applications by enterprises or public-private sectors.
Caption: Taiwan’s tailor-made AI model
The model, based on Llama 2 with 7 billion parameters, has been completed, and another model with 13 billion parameters is nearing the level of GPT 3.5. According to Chairman of NSTC, Tsung-Tsong Wu, the Taiwanese government’s aim is not to create a “Taiwanese version of ChatGPT” but to develop a reliable AI dialogue model for value-added applications by enterprises or public-private sectors.
“The model based on Llama 2 (with 7B parameters) was activated in March 2023. This large language model enables various industries to continue training and tailor generative AI according to their needs.” - Tsung-Tsong Wu
The TAIDE with 7 billion parameters has no issues summarizing meetings, while the 13 billion parameters TAIDE is closest to Open AI’s GPT 3.5 version. This development is crucial, as international large-scale language models often produce biased or culturally inappropriate responses for Taiwan due to the limited availability of Traditional Chinese language data.
Regulating AI in Taiwan
Regarding the legislative progress of the “Artificial Intelligence Fundamental Act” raised by legislators, Wu stated that Taiwan must balance innovation and regulation. The content currently leans towards referencing the policy directions of the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The Executive Yuan’s AI Basic Law draft is scheduled to be released by the end of 2024 for legislative review.
Caption: Taiwania 2, a high-speed computing host
Taiwania 2, a high-speed computing host, was completed at the end of 2023, providing a computing performance of 3.53 petaflops, more than twice the computing performance of “Taiwania 1.” It is set to replace the first host and open for service in the third quarter of 2024 and improve energy efficiency management.
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry dominance and the rapid development of generative AI present a golden opportunity for Taiwan’s international visibility. NSTC strengthens talent cultivation measures across all stages and collaborates across departments to enhance scientific research talent cultivation.
“Taiwan’s semiconductor industry dominance and the rapid development of generative AI present a golden opportunity for Taiwan’s international visibility.” - Tsung-Tsong Wu
