TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The government aims to increase computing power from 160 petaflops to 1,200 petaflops by 2029, according to the National Science and Technology Council.

NARLabs President Tsai Hung-yin (蔡宏營) told the Cabinet on Thursday that Taiwan ranked 11th in global supercomputer rankings by the TOP500 project, which lists the world’s 500 most powerful non-distributed computer systems, per CNA. The US was first on the list (6,475 petaflops), followed by Japan (940 petaflops), and Italy (849 petaflops).

Tsai said the government will upgrade power and energy use efficiency to reach 480 petaflops in the public sector by 2029. In addition, the private sector will contribute 500 petaflops, bringing the total to 1,200 petaflops as Taiwan sets in on its sovereign AI goals. 

Taiwan currently operates five supercomputers: three are run by NARLabs, and two by the Central Weather Administration. Supercomputers can be used for various activities such as drug and vaccine research, weather forecasting, and AI development. 

Tsai said Taiwan’s AI supercomputer will go live in May. Meanwhile, NSTC is investing in a large cloud data center to house servers and data storage facilities.

The cloud data center in Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) will begin operating at the end of this year, NSTC said. The AI computing data center in Tainan’s Shalun area will be ready by 2029.