Computex spotlights Taiwan’s AI role as China tensions flare
Taipei’s AI showcase drew Nvidia, Intel and SK Group, but 79 Chinese warplanes and a Pratas standoff shadowed the sales pitch. Taiwan’s supply-chain role looked inseparable from security.
Taiwan’s biggest technology showcase opened with optimism about artificial intelligence and ended under a cloud of military pressure, capturing the contradiction at the heart of the island’s role in the global hardware economy. Computex brought major executives to Taipei to celebrate Taiwan as an indispensable link in AI and semiconductor manufacturing even as Chinese aircraft and coast guard activity kept the security risk front and center.
The show ran from June 2 to June 5 and, under the theme “AI Together,” drew 1,500 exhibitors from 33 countries and regions across more than 6,000 booths. Organizers framed it as a platform for AI, robotics and next-generation tech, not just a PC trade show, a shift that reflects how central Taiwan has become to the worldwide electronics supply chain.
Nvidia, Intel and SK Group were among the companies using the event to underline that dependence. Taiwan is home to TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a supplier to Nvidia and Apple, and to Foxconn, Nvidia’s largest server maker. SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won said Taiwan has a highly complete AI supply chain and pressed for deeper cooperation with Taiwanese firms, while Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang visited the SK hynix booth and met Chey there.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te told attendees that maintaining the political status quo is the most responsible way Taiwan can secure global supply chains, linking economic stability directly to the island’s security. His message landed against a backdrop of heightened friction: Taiwan’s defense ministry said it counted 79 Chinese warplanes operating near the island during the June 2 to June 5 period, and China’s military carried out another joint combat readiness patrol around Taiwan during the same week.
The sharpest reminder came at sea. On the final day of Computex, Taiwanese and Chinese coast guard vessels confronted each other near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea, the second such standoff in a fortnight. Taiwan later said a Chinese coast guard ship and a survey ship had carried out the first coordinated operation there to provoke Taiwan. The Pratas lie more than 400 kilometers from Taiwan’s main island and are lightly defended, making them a persistent flash point.
Taiwan’s coast guard warned that peace in the Taiwan Strait is vital to both the global economy and the technology industry. For the companies gathered in Taipei, the message was unavoidable: the world’s AI ambitions depend on Taiwan, and that dependence now runs through a supply chain exposed to sudden disruption.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
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