Nvidia eyeing land leased to Shin Kong Life: Taipei deputy mayor

Taipei, May 21 (CNA) Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said Wednesday that he believes U.S.-based artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia Corp. is planning to build its Taiwan headquarters on land leased to Shin Kong Life Insurance by the Taipei City government.

On Monday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) announced in his keynote speech at Computex 2025 that the company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office.

Huang said he informed Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the company's intention to operate on the site, which he added will require the mayor to approve the transfer of the lease from the current occupant.

Speaking with reporters, Lee echoed market speculation, saying that Nvidia is eyeing two lots of land -- designated T17 and T18 -- in the Beitou-Shilin Science Park.

The lots were leased by the city government to Shin Kong Insurance in 2021 for a 50-year property development project. Lee said that the American company still needs to resolve issues related to the lease contract.

Shin Kong Insurance, the flagship insurance unit of Shin Kong Financial Holding Co, has not started any construction on the land, although the company did secure a building permit in 2024.

In addition, Lee noted that Huang has said he needs a 3 hectare plot of land and T17 plus T18 meet that requirement, with the two plots having a total area of about 4 hectares.

Lee said that if Shin Kong Insurance builds a building and then leases it to Nvidia, the city government would not need to renegotiate the lease transfer with the insurer to allow Nvidia to use the land.

In that scenario, Lee added, Shin Kong Insurance would only need to apply for approval of a change in urban planning, since lots T17 and T18 are divided by a road, and such a change is required to combine the two parcels.

However, Lee said that urban planning renewal would no doubt enlarge the size of the land Shin Kong Insurance uses, so the life insurer will have to talk with the city government about a higher price for the lease.

Shin Kong Insurance paid NT$2.8 billion (US$93.11 million) and NT$1.6 billion, respectively, to the city government for the lease contracts for T17 and T18 respectively, signing in 2021, according to local news media reports.

An alternative preferred by the Taipei City Council is that Shin Kong Insurance will transfer the land lease to Nvidia for the chip giant to build its headquarters itself, Lee said.

As Shin Kong Insurance has not contacted the city government regarding the lease contracts for plots T17 and T18, Lee said he is not 100 percent sure whether Nvidia has really set its sights on the land.

Lee said Nvidia is very welcome by the city government to open its Taiwan headquarters in Taipei and the authorities will provide necessary assistance to the company to build the office.

In his keynote speech, Huang said that as Nvidia and its partnerships in Taiwan grow, the number of engineers working at the company's current premises has grown beyond capacity, requiring a new Taiwan office.

Currently, Nvidia has an office in Taipei's Nangang District.