U.S. 'must partner with Taiwan' on AI chips: Business group head

Washington, March 11 (CNA) Washington "must partner with Taiwan" to ensure the most powerful artificial intelligence systems are fully built in the United States, the head of the US-Taiwan Business Council said Tuesday.

In a special commentary, US-Taiwan Business Council President Rupert Hammond-Chambers said that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) "currently operates a near monopoly" on high-end chips.

As a result, Washington "must partner with Taiwan" to achieve U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance's goal of ensuring that "the most powerful AI systems are built in the U.S. with American-designed-and-manufactured chips."

"Taiwan is already a key collaborator and can serve as the indispensable AI hardware partner in the U.S. effort to remain the global leader for this transformative technology," Hammond-Chambers said.

U.S. President Donald Trump's rhetoric has shifted from criticizing Taiwan's dominance after TSMC's March 3 announcement that it would invest an additional US$100 billion in the U.S.

Although fears remain that the U.S. could go from "a tight partnership with Taiwan to seeing its semiconductor industry absorbed by Beijing," Hammond-Chambers said, "the strategy here must be about risk mitigation, not moving TSMC's entire ecosystem."

President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has "been clear that the island nation will keep leading-edge technology in Taiwan, only allowing technology 1-2 generations behind the most advanced production to head overseas," Hammond-Chambers added.

"A delicate dance is therefore underway in Taipei to address President Trump's concerns -- thereby minimizing broad damage to U.S.-Taiwan bilateral relations -- while also trying to ensure that TSMC remains headquartered in Taiwan as the most important semiconductor company in the world," he said.