INTERVIEW/Taiwan planning robotics startup based on TSMC model: NSTC head

Taipei, May 17 (CNA) Taiwan wants to establish a contract robotics startup by as early as 2026 through a model similar to the one that spawned contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) head Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said Friday.

Wu told CNA in an interview that the government intends to partly finance the new company as it did with TSMC in 1987 and have private investors fund the balance.

Wu said, however, that the National Development Fund under the Executive Yuan will not take more than a 30 percent stake in the venture and that the government will not intervene in its operations or lead the management.

Some companies in the private sector have showed strong interest in participating in the robotics startup based on such a model, Wu said, while noting that the National Development Fund will have a NT$10 billion (US$330.8 million) to fund the TSMC-like startup and other robotics ventures.

In 1987, the government opened TSMC by investing US$70 million and taking a 48.3 percent stake in the chipmaker, with the private sector, including the Netherlands' Philips N.V., funding the rest.

After TSMC went public in 1994, the National Development Fund started trimming its stake, and it currently has a 6.38 percent share of the chipmaker but remains its largest single shareholder.

After years of development, TSMC has become the largest pure play foundry operator in the world, sitting on paid-in capital of NT$259.33 billion.

According to Wu, many Taiwanese tech companies are good at contract manufacturing and the government is now willing to integrate these resources into a robotics startup.

Like TSMC, which does not make chips for its own use or brand, a contract robotics maker will ease concerns among its clients over whether the company would eventually compete with them.

According to Wu, while companies in Taiwan have begun developing robotics for industrial use, those efforts have been limited to component production such as robotics arms.

As a result, the government is hoping to broaden the field's vision and have the manufacturing sector roll out multifunctional robotics, with the goal to build a multifunctional robot powered by AI applications to act like a human.

Wu's comments follow the Executive Yuan's approval of a project earlier this month to accelerate the development of Taiwan's smart robotics industry and boost the output value of professional service robots from NT$4 billion to NT$50 billion over the next five years.

In addition, assisted by technical support from the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the NSTC and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are planning to launch robotics products in two years for the smart health care, lodging and food/beverage and logistics sectors.

Under the smart robotics project, Wu said, the government will set up a research and development hub in ITRI's southern branch in Lioujia District of Tainan and plan to roll out products in an industrial park in neighboring Liouying District.

The geographic proximity of smart robotics R&D and production is expected to help Taiwan form a robotics cluster by attracting firms specializing in sensors, machine tools and electronics development, Wu said.