Source: Taipei Times by Lisa Wang

Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday launched its first high-speed artificial intelligence (AI) platform to help 5G application developers accelerate program development and product readiness by adopting Intel Corp’s development tools.

Leveraging the infrastructure and a laboratory built by Asusek for the platform, software vendors would be able to develop and validate their applications easily and reduce the time needed to enter the market, Asustek said.

The platform is to operate on a private 5G network built by Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), after the National Communications Commission last month established rules regulating the nation’s 5G private network deployment.

The rules would also pave the way for the release of new bandwidth totaling 100 megahertz for 5G private network deployment.

“The platform aims to solve pain points for start-ups, including a lack of strong computing power and high-speed 5G networks,” Asustek chief operating officer Joe Hsieh (謝明傑) told a media briefing in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水).

With supercomputers installed in the “5G AI Ready Platform,” application developers can save a large amount of time, Heish said.

It takes only four hours to come up with a data analysis model, compared with four months previously, Hsieh said.

About 100 customers are using the platform’s AI feature to develop new applications for different industries, including smart manufacturing, smart cities, smart retail and hospitals, Hsieh said.

Besides, Asustek will not rule out the possibility of investing in the startups using the platform, he said.

He expects the demand for this platform to gain traction next year, or in 2024.

Intel believes its technological capabilities lie not only in hardware, as software-oriented Intel FlexRAN and Intel oneAPI, as well as the OpenVINO toolkit would enable developers to have a common software platform where they can build their solutions, Intel general manager of Asia-Pacific and Japan region Steven Long said.

“This platform is to bring tremendous benefits to users and soft vendors so that they can easily develop, validate and deploy in greater efficiency and readiness,” Long said.

“I believe it will play a crucial role in taking Taiwan’s digital transformation forward,” he said.

Commenting on Intel’s partnerships with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科), Long said the chipmaker has formed multiple-facet partnerships with the companies, which it would expand.

He declined to comment on whether he would visit MediaTek.

MediaTek has announced a foundry partnership with Intel on mature note technology for TV and Wi-Fi chips.

Long said Taiwan is the heart of the electronics industry, as 85 percent of PCs, 90 percent of servers and more than one-third of Internet of Things devices are made in Taiwan.

“My job is to harvest that and grow it across the world at Intel’s scales,” Long said. “If COVID restrictions continue to ease, I’ll be here at least once a month. That’s how important Taiwan is to the region.”