Computex 2024: AI products to be showcased, tech experts to take the stage

Taipei, June 2 (CNA) Computex 2024 is to take place in Taipei from June 4-7, and with "Connecting AI" as the theme of this year's expo, AI servers, edge AI PCs and all kinds of innovative AI applications and solutions are set to be among the highlights.

A forecast by Gartner, a technology research and consulting firm, estimates that worldwide spending on IT is expected to hit US$5.06 trillion in 2024, an increase of 8 percent from 2023, which puts worldwide IT spending on track to surpass US$8 trillion before the end of the decade.

The rise is driven by enterprises' initiatives to bring generative AI (GenAI) capabilities to existing products and services.

Paul Peng (彭双浪), chairman of the Taiwan Computer Association (TCA), said in an earlier interview with CNA that as Taiwan's ICT supply chain for AI development is highly comprehensive, the country is well poised to make inroads into the AI sector during the current boom.

Computex 2024 will feature about 1,500 exhibitors from 36 countries and regions at 4,500 booths, a 50 percent growth from the 1,000 exhibitors and 3,000 booths in 2023, with attendance bouncing back to pre-COVID-19 levels.

The following are the three highlights of this year's COMPUTEX:

Enter the luminaries

This year's expo has gone viral because of the presence of several AI boom luminaries, including AMD's Lisa Su, Arm CEO Rene Hass and Intel's Pat Gelsinger.

Others scheduled to appear and give keynote speeches at the annual show are Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon, Supermicro's Charles Liang, MediaTek CEO Rick Tsai, NXP CTO Lars Reger, and Delta General Director Chiueh Tzi-cker.

Peng in the interview quipped that there could be a "competition" between them, with some fearing that if other "heavyweights" are attending, "then I have to go, too, to show my strength."

Jensen Huang is not officially a keynote speaker at Computex 2024 but will give a speech at NTU Sports Center on Sunday night.

He arrived early in Taiwan on May 26 and has already been spotted by many in night markets and restaurants. He also threw the ceremonial first pitch before a Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) game between the Wei Chuan Dragons and the CTBC Brothers in Taipei on Saturday.

AI PCs and other edge AI devices

Gartner's forecast of IT spending growth is based on the expected wide range of Gen AI applications, with data center systems -- large facilities that store and process data -- to be the focus of the spending.

At the same time, it is anticipated more computing power will be decentralized to edge AI products -- devices that perform AI processing locally on the device itself -- such as AI PCs and AI mobile phones to lift the burden on AI cloud centers.

This year's COMPUTEX will include a showcase of such edge AI devices.

At the Microsoft Build 2024 conference in May, a new type of "Windows PCs designed for AI, Copilot+ PCs," was announced, with support from major chip makers, Intel, Arm, and Qualcomm, as well as six PC OEM (original equipment manufacturer) partners -- Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung.

It is expected to be showcased at Computex, with Acer and ASUS also set to introduce their own AI PC models.

The CEOs of Intel, Arm, and Qualcomm will be giving keynote speeches at the expo, promoting their ideas and products, and sharing the limelight with Jensen Huang, who is giving a speech on Sunday.

Record number of participating countries at InnoVEX

InnoVEX, a unique startup exhibition held concurrently with Computex, is set to welcome the participation of nearly 400 startups from more than 30 countries and regions and will highlight four areas of innovation -- AI, smart mobility, semiconductor applications, and green technology.

The startups will join as individual exhibitors or in one of the pavilions. In total, 23 pavilions will attend InnoVEX 2024, including those from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Indonesia, India, and Japan, as well as from Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA), Taiwan's flagship startup ecosystem-building program.