AI Computing Center BOO Project: Yawan Supercomputing and TechPower Apply

(CNA) The Ministry of Digital Affairs announced today that it is seeking private sector proposals for the Build-Own-Operate (BOO) of AI computing centers. Yawan Supercomputing Co., Ltd. and TechPower Technology Co., Ltd. have submitted applications and will hold public hearings on July 17 and 21, respectively, to gather opinions from local residents to meet local needs.

In mid-April, the Ministry of Digital Affairs released the policy announcement for "Seeking Private Sector Proposals for the Build-Own-Operate (BOO) of AI Computing Centers." Utilizing a public-private partnership model, the ministry is soliciting investment from enterprises to build AI computing centers, marking Taiwan's first landmark digital infrastructure public-private partnership project. This initiative incorporates AI computing centers into major public construction projects for digital infrastructure, promoting them through the Build-Own-Operate (BOO) model.

In terms of construction scale, the applicant institutions must have a total investment amount (excluding land) of over NT$300 million and must self-finance the land or lease existing facilities for investment and construction. Furthermore, to ensure the AI computing centers possess international competitiveness, the total computing power scale must reach at least 15 PetaFLOPS (i.e., 15 quadrillion calculations per second) under 32-bit floating-point operations (FP32) to support precision medicine, smart transportation, and various national-level AI technology research and development.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs indicated that applications closed in mid-May, with a total of three Taiwanese companies submitting proposals. A preliminary review meeting was held on June 25. After the committee discussed the preliminary review opinions, review items, and the data of the evaluated applicants item by item, two applicants passed the review, and one did not. Subsequently, in accordance with the relevant regulations of the Public-Private Partnership Act, public hearings will be held for those who passed the review.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs announced today the schedule for the public hearings for the "Seeking Private Sector Proposals for the Build-Own-Operate (BOO) of AI Computing Centers" project. The applicant companies are Yawan Supercomputing Co., Ltd. and TechPower Technology Co., Ltd.

According to the announcement, the public hearing for Yawan Supercomputing Co., Ltd.'s application to participate in the AI computing center BOO project will be held at 1:30 PM on July 17 at the Kaohsiung Linhai Industrial Park Service Center in Kaohsiung City. The public hearing for TechPower Technology Co., Ltd.'s application will be held at 10:00 AM on July 21 at the Tucheng District Office in New Taipei City.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs stated that public hearings will be held in July to broadly gather opinions and negotiate government commitments and cooperation matters with the applicants. After the feasibility assessment report is approved, the preliminary qualified applicants will be notified to prepare their investment proposals. Subsequently, an evaluation committee will be established to conduct a comprehensive review. Upon approval, the process will move to the negotiation and formal signing stage, with the goal of completing the signing by the end of this year.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs emphasized that the construction of AI computing centers is related to the well-being of all citizens. Participating institutions should allocate a certain proportion of computing power for gratuitous or preferential use by government agencies and academic research institutions, and assist Taiwanese small and medium-sized enterprises in obtaining computing resources at reasonable costs to promote industrial transformation and upgrading. At the same time, it encourages businesses to propose preferential plans for local residents or disadvantaged groups.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs stressed that it will actively promote public-private collaboration, such as the BOO model, to attract private resources to jointly invest in building national computing power infrastructure, laying a solid foundation for technological autonomy. (Editor: Lin Hsing-meng) 1150706

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