MODA project aims to boost private investment in computing power

Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) The Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) has launched a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) project to encourage private investment in computing power centers, with the goal of adding more than 10,000 GPUs' worth of computing capacity within a year, minister Lin Yi-jing (林宜敬) said Tuesday.

Lin made the remarks in response to concerns about Taiwan's computing power capacity.

On Monday, former Digital Affairs Minister Huang Yen-nun (黃彥男) cited the latest Global AI Index, which ranked Taiwan 16th among 83 governments, behind the United States, China, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, at the 2026 Technology Sovereignty Summit.

Huang noted that South Korea has announced plans to purchase 260,000 Nvidia GPUs by 2030, while Japan already has about 40,000. Taiwan, by comparison, has about 30,000, he said.

He added that developing sovereign AI also requires sufficient energy to support the necessary computing power.

In response, Lin said South Korea's GPU purchases do not mean Taiwan is falling behind.

Computing power centers are one component of building Taiwan's AI ecosystem, Lin said, adding that having the government purchase all computing capacity and provide it to industry for free could undermine the sector by distorting market mechanisms.

MODA has therefore launched the BOO project to attract private investment in computing infrastructure, which is expected to add more than 10,000 GPUs' worth of computing capacity within a year, or potentially much more under an optimistic scenario, Lin said.

Technological breakthroughs and development should be driven by free and fair competition in the private sector, he said, adding that MODA will provide policy tools covering computing power, data, talent, marketing and capital to help build a healthy and thriving AI ecosystem.

As for electricity supply, Lin said it "should not be a problem" based on current assessments, adding that MODA will communicate and coordinate with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and state-owned Taiwan Power Co.

Lin also described Taiwan as a "superpower" in hardware, a strength that could help bring the country's software industry to global markets as other countries seek partners beyond the United States and China, creating opportunities for Taiwan to help them develop sovereign AI systems.