Ye Yizhen, Chairman of the Touch IC Design Factory Elan, participated in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Industry Development Analysis Forum organized by the Information Industry Council (MIC) today (7), pointing out the challenges and opportunities for IC design companies to enter AI. Talent, efficiency and data collection are three major issues, while the edge computing and Internet of Things sectors are Taiwan's advantages.

Regarding the development opportunities of Taiwan IC design companies in the AI ​​industry, Ye Yizhen named the edge computing and Internet of Things. He believes that Taiwan has a complete and mature supply chain from semiconductor manufacturing to packaging and testing, IP, and design services. In addition to health insurance, a large number of locomotives and other special situations, it is very promising to have a large enough data database. However, Ye Yizhen pointed out that the biggest challenge in developing AI is the high cost of chip development. For example, it takes more than 300 million Taiwan dollars to develop a 28-nanometer chip, more than 400 million Taiwan dollars for 16-nanometer, and more than 700 million Taiwan dollars for 7-nanometer. "If you don't do it once, 300 million Taiwan dollars will fly."

In addition, Ye Yizhen believes that Taiwan still lacks AI computing talents, and big data collection is limited by the personal information law. He urged the unit to adjust the procurement thinking of public construction only in hardware, and pay more attention to emerging software applications. He also encouraged young students. AI is a key trend in the future. Taiwan has excellent AI-related schools, such as Taiwan Artificial Intelligence School and Jiaotong University AI College. It is believed to be a very promising project for young people. Mao Jinghao, director of the Institute of Information Security Technology, said that with the rise of emerging applications such as 5G and the Internet of Things, information security issues are gradually gaining importance from the market. Last year, the global information security market was US$114.2 billion, and it is estimated that it will reach 158.2 billion in 2022. The US dollar has strong growth potential. However, according to research firm ICInsights, the number of global asset-based startups has reached a new low in five years this year, indicating that startups are unable to meet the differentiated needs of customers and it is difficult to obtain funds.

Mao Jinghao believes that in fact, from the information security technology, products, services, platforms to the consumer side, there are manufacturers with long-term layout in the world, and the biggest problem in the industry is that there is no vertical integration, and the end-to-end connection is not enough, resulting in supply and demand. With faults, the industry has not yet formed a clear ecosystem. He suggested that in addition to focusing on internal R&D, operators should also seek out partners to shape a more complete industrial ecosystem.