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Computex 2024 to showcase AI products
Computex 2024 kicks off on 4 June this year under the theme of "Connecting AI" – with organizers pointing to AI servers, edge AI personal computers, and all kinds of innovative AI applications and solutions as highlights.
The Taiwan Computer Association says Computex will feature about 1,500 exhibitors from 36 countries and regions at 4,500 booths. That's a 50% increase in the 1,000 exhibitors and 3,000 booths seen in 2023, with attendance back at pre-Covid levels.
Association Chairman Paul Peng says as Taiwan's ICT supply chain for AI development is highly comprehensive, the island is well poised to make inroads into the AI sector during the current boom - and the annual computer show will showcase this.
Technology research and consulting firm Gartner estimates that worldwide spending on IT is expected to surpass US$5 trillion dollars this year. That's an 8% increase from 2023, and it puts worldwide IT spending on track to exceed US$8 trillion before the end of the decade.
Advanced Micro Devices Chairwoman and CEO Lisa Su is in Taiwan to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex 2024 in Taipei later today. Su arrived at Taipei's Songshan Airport on Saturday night on a private jet.
Su is set to deliver an opening keynote, entitled "The future of high-performance computing in the AI era." According to AMD, Su will be sharing how the company and its partners are leading the way in developing the next generation of high-performance personal computers, data centres, and AI solutions.
Su will also visit the booth set up by Quanta Cloud Technology and meet with CC Leung, Quanta Computer's vice chairman and president, and Quanta Cloud Technology's President Mike Yang.
Reports have been saying AMD is planning to invest about NT$5 billion to set up a research and development centre here in Taiwan, and that Tainan and Kaohsiung are both courting the company in a bid to secure the capital allocation.
Also in Taipei for Computex, Nvidia C-E-O Jensen Huang says he believes AI is the driving force behind a new global industrial revolution. During a speech delivered at the NTU Sports Center, Huang said now is a "time of reset in the computer industry" because accelerated computing and AI are "reshaping the industry" and his company is helping the world tackle what he called "computation inflation."
Present at the event include leading faces from the high-tech sector including Quanta Computer Chairman Barry Lam, Hon Hai Chairman Liu Yang-wei and Asustek Chairman Jonney Shi.
Huang told participants "AI factories" are now feasible since GPUs have become integrated with CPUs, which means many calculations can be made simultaneously. This in turn, allows for AI processing to become faster and more efficient.
Huang stressed that he believes the computer "is no longer just an instrument for information storage or data processing, but a factory for generating intelligence for every industry."
Economics Minister JW Kuo and Digital Minister Huang Yen-nan were also at the event.
