President Lai Attends Inauguration Ceremony of the National Center for AI Robotics
the National Center for AI Robotics (NCAIR) was officially inaugurated, with President Lai Ching-te attending the ceremony and delivering remarks. Distinguished guests included Wu Cheng-wen, Minister of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC); Huang Wei-che, Mayor of Tainan City; Legislator Chen Ting-Fei; Cheng Ying-Yao, Minister of Education; Takeo Kanade and Liao Hong-yuan, members of the NIAR International Advisory Committee; Tsai Hung-Yin, President of the National Institutes of Applied Research (NIAR); and Alvin Wen-Yu Su, Director General of NCAIR, together with representatives from the National Development Council, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Digital Affairs, academia, research institutions and industry.
Yuan’s “New Ten Major AI Infrastructure Projects” and the government’s plan to promote the smart robotics industry, four major strategies are being pursued to advance smart robotics: advancing key technologies, growing the industry ecosystem, enhancing industry cybersecurity, standards and regulation, and cultivating and deploying talent. To support AI application development under the Southern Taiwan Silicon Valley Program, NSTC commissioned NIAR to establish the “National Center for AI Robotics” as a key hub for smart robotics R&D, testing and field validation at the “Tainan AI Innovation Building” in Shalun, Tainan. By bringing together expertise from academia, research institutions and industry, the Center aims to accelerate the real-world deployment of AI technologies, support industrial transformation, and extend AI capabilities beyond cloud computing to support perception and collaboration in the physical world. These efforts will help strengthen Taiwan’s economic and industrial capabilities, thereby positioning smart robotics as a key enabler for addressing labour shortages, advancing precision medicine and optimising smart manufacturing.
(From left to right) Alvin Wen-Yu Su, Director General of NCAIR; Tsai Hung-Yin, President of NIAR; Cheng Ying-Yao, Minister of Education; Wu Cheng-wen, Minister of the National Science and Technology Council; President Lai Ching-te; Huang Wei-che, Mayor of Tainan City; Legislator Chen Ting-Fei; Jan Fang-Guan, Deputy Minister of the National Development Council; and Takeo Kanade, NIAR International Advisory Committee Member. (Photo courtesy of the National Science and Technology Council)(
President Lai stated that the government is pressing ahead with the “New Ten Major AI Infrastructure Projects” to transform Taiwan from a “chip manufacturing powerhouse” into an “AI applications powerhouse”, and that NCAIR will translate powerful AI computing capacity—the “brain”—into physical “digital limbs”, thereby bringing AI into everyday life, accelerating real-world AI adoption across all sectors and helping build Taiwan into an “AI island”. (Photo courtesy of the National Science and Technology Council)
Minister Wu noted that NCAIR will promote cross-disciplinary research, real-world collaboration and resource sharing to support joint efforts across academia, research institutions and industry in frontier research and system integration, helping Taiwan transform its strength in component supply into broader competitiveness at the system level. (Photo courtesy of the National Science and Technology Council)
NIAR President Tsai Hung-Yin delivers a briefing on the NCAIR. (Photo courtesy of the National Science and Technology Council)
Group photo of distinguished guests
Group photo of distinguished guests
Letter of Intent Signing Ceremony
Group photo of representatives from academia, research institutions and industry following the Letter of Intent signing ceremony