90% of the world’s AI hardware is manufactured in Taiwan; 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips (they power AI) is made in Taiwan. This gives us a sense of why AI is an industrial priority for Taiwan.

Computex (June 2-5) is Taiwan’s flagship industry trade show. (Begun in 1986, it’s one of the world's oldest and largest computer trade shows.)

Our guest today is technology columnist Tim Culpan. Culpan is the writer of “Culpium”, and a former writer at Bloomberg News where he spent 18 years - first as a technology reporter, then as a tech columnist. He's lived in Taiwan for 25 years and has launched his podcast “Supply Chained”. We discuss the latest developments in Taiwan’s A.I. industry, where Trump and China factor into all of this, and what you can expect to see at this year’s COMPUTEX.

Today’s episode is hosted by Albert Chang-Yoo. 
Tim Culpan tracks the Taiwanese AI supply chain through his index CASCI (Culpium AI Supply Chain Index). Categories include capacity (construction, manufacturing, e.g. Chroma ATE), upstream (semiconductor production, e.g. TSMC, MediaTek), midstream (power supply systems, modules, e.g. Gigabyte, Delta Electronics), and downstream (assembling servers, e.g. Quanta, Foxconn).
Taiwan faces a looming energy crisis spurred by A.I. demands. As of 2025, 81.3% of Taiwan’s energy supply is produced from fossil fuels, 12.7% from renewables, and 1.2% from nuclear. (In May 2025, the last operating nuclear plant was decommissioned.) Taiwan also relies on imports for almost 98% of its energy.
“Jensanity”: Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang broke ground on its new 4-hectare headquarters in Taipei last week. He aims for the 4,000-person campus to be functional by 2030.
Also last week, AMD’s Lisa Su announced a US$10 billion co-investment into the Taiwanese supply chain. 

You can follow Tim Culpan’s work on Culpium, or by listening to his podcast “Supply Chained”.

EPISODE CREDIT | Producer, Emily Y. Wu @emilyywu | Host, Albert Chang-Yoo | Audio Editing, Wayne Tsai | Research, Zach Chiang, Albert Chang-Yoo

Support us by donating on patreon.com/Taiwan

A Ghost Island Media production | www.ghostisland.media

90% of the world&rsquo;s AI hardware is manufactured in Taiwan; 90% of the world&rsquo;s most advanced semiconductor chips (they power AI) is made in Taiwan. This gives us a sense of why AI is an industrial priority for Taiwan. Computex&nbsp;(June 2-5) is Taiwan&rsquo;s flagship industry trade show. (Begun in 1986, it&rsquo;s one of the world's oldest and largest computer trade shows.) Our guest today is technology columnist&nbsp;Tim Culpan. Culpan is the writer of &ldquo;<a href="https://www.culpium.com">Culpium</a>&rdquo;, and a former writer at Bloomberg News where he spent 18 years - first as a technology reporter, then as a tech columnist. He's lived in Taiwan for 25 years and has launched his podcast &ldquo;Supply Chained&rdquo;. We discuss the latest developments in Taiwan&rsquo;s A.I. industry, where Trump and China factor into all of this, and what you can expect to see at this year&rsquo;s COMPUTEX. Today&rsquo;s episode is hosted by Albert Chang-Yoo.&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Tim Culpan tracks the Taiwanese AI supply chain through his index CASCI (<a href="https://www.culpium.com/p/casci-composite-shows-ai-chip-strength">Culpium AI Supply Chain Index</a>). Categories include capacity (construction, manufacturing, e.g. Chroma ATE), upstream (semiconductor production, e.g. TSMC, MediaTek), midstream (power supply systems, modules, e.g. Gigabyte, Delta Electronics), and downstream (assembling servers, e.g. Quanta, Foxconn).</li>
<li aria-level="1">Taiwan faces a looming energy crisis spurred by A.I. demands. As of 2025, 81.3% of Taiwan&rsquo;s energy supply is produced from fossil fuels, 12.7% from renewables, and 1.2% from nuclear. (In May 2025, the last operating nuclear plant was decommissioned.) Taiwan also relies on imports for almost 98% of its energy.</li>
<li aria-level="1">&ldquo;Jensanity&rdquo;: Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang broke ground on its new 4-hectare headquarters in Taipei last week. He aims for the 4,000-person campus to be functional by 2030.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Also last week, AMD&rsquo;s Lisa Su announced a US$10 billion co-investment into the Taiwanese supply chain.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
You can follow Tim Culpan&rsquo;s work on <a href="https://www.culpium.com">Culpium</a>, or by listening to his podcast &ldquo;<a href="https://t.co/Psil1jt54O">Supply Chained</a>&rdquo;. EPISODE CREDIT | Producer, Emily Y. Wu&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/emilyywu">@emilyywu</a> | Host, Albert Chang-Yoo | Audio Editing, Wayne Tsai | Research, Zach Chiang, Albert Chang-Yoo Support us by donating on <a href="http://patreon.com/taiwan">patreon.com/Taiwan</a> A Ghost Island Media production |&nbsp;<a href="https://ghostisland.media/">www.ghostisland.media</a>

A current affairs podcast on Taiwan and the world. Every episode, we invite a journalist to a conversation with an expert to get the big picture context of what we need to know. These are global issues, and this is The Taiwan Take. 

Nominated for Best News Podcast at 2020 Excellent Journalism Award in Taiwan. Produced by Ghost Island Media in Taipei, Taiwan.

2020年台灣卓越新聞獎 Podcast 新聞獎入圍者．這是一個專門討論臺灣時事的訪談性英文節目， 以「縱觀世界議題，以臺灣觀點論述」為主軸，由記者採訪跨領域專家、名人與來賓等，第一手將臺灣的故事推向國際．

鬼島之音製作播出．

A current affairs podcast on Taiwan and the world. Every episode, we invite a journalist to a conversation with an expert to get the big picture context of what we need to know. These are global issues, and this is The Taiwan Take. Nominated for Best News Podcast at 2020 Excellent Journalism Award in Taiwan.&nbsp;Produced by Ghost Island Media in Taipei, Taiwan. 2020年台灣卓越新聞獎 Podcast 新聞獎入圍者．這是一個專門討論臺灣時事的訪談性英文節目， 以「縱觀世界議題，以臺灣觀點論述」為主軸，由記者採訪跨領域專家、名人與來賓等，第一手將臺灣的故事推向國際． 鬼島之音製作播出．