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Taipei keeps paying for the AI build

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16:45UTC

Taiwan's Executive Yuan confirmed on 17 September that funding continues for the AI New Ten Major Infrastructure Projects, budgeted above NT$190bn since March, while its training pipeline runs at 140,000 professionals a year against a 400,000 target.

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EconomicDeveloping

Key takeaway

Taiwan funds AI skills to protect its chip exports, not to cushion redundancies.

Taiwan's Executive Yuan, the island's Cabinet, confirmed on 17 September 2026 that it will keep funding the AI New Ten Major Infrastructure Projects, budgeted above NT$190bn since March, citing the need to hold Taiwan's position in the AI and semiconductor supply chain⁠¹. Its National Development Council trained 140,000 AI professionals during 2025, against a cumulative target of 400,000 by 2028⁠².

Taipei's reasoning runs opposite to every other state in this briefing. The others reach for skills money because they fear what AI does to employment. Taiwan reaches for it because the island manufactures the hardware the boom runs on, and a shortage of engineers threatens the export position long before it threatens anybody's job security. Samsung and SoftBank Corp. reported the demand side of that same supply chain growing through August.

That target needs roughly 130,000 people a year for the remaining three years to land on time, against 140,000 delivered in the most recent full year. A pipeline running at pace is an unusual thing to report in this field, where most workforce targets are announced and never audited again. Whether those 140,000 end up in AI work, or merely hold a certificate, the council has not published.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Taiwan's Cabinet, the Executive Yuan, confirmed on 17 September that it will keep funding a group of AI infrastructure projects that has already had more than NT$190 billion budgeted since March. At the same time, Taiwan's National Development Council reported it has trained 140,000 AI professionals during 2025, working toward a target of 400,000 by 2028. Taiwan is betting on building both sides of the AI economy at once: the physical and digital infrastructure AI needs to run, and a pipeline of workers trained to build and operate it, rather than treating infrastructure spending and workforce training as separate problems.

Sources:Central News Agency (Taiwan)

Mentions:National Development Council →Taiwan →SoftBank →Samsung Electronics →Executive Yuan →SoftBank Corp. →

First Reported In

Update #20 · AI closes the hiring door, not the exit

Central News Agency (Taiwan)· 21 Sept 2026

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Different Perspectives

Korea's four largest banks, as reported by News1

KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana and Woori rehired 1,013 retirees last year, equal to 79.1% of their graduate intake, according to News1. Graduates face a smaller entry intake while returners take fixed-term credit-screening roles at lower pay, News1 reports.

High Court of Justice of Madrid

The court's employment chamber ruled in judgment 864/2026, dated 8 October and made public in early November, that introducing AI is not on its own a ground for dismissal. Employers must prove AI's effect through the four causes the Workers' Statute already lists.

Singapore Ministry of Manpower

The Singapore Ministry of Manpower put third-quarter retrenchments at 4,800, concentrated in information and communications, financial services and manufacturing, with business reorganisation the main driver. Its release does not mention AI.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas

Challenger reported on 5 November that market and economic conditions overtook AI as the leading stated reason for 2026's US job cuts, at 130,531 against 121,401. AI was cited for 1,265 cuts in October, its lowest month of the year.

Office for Budget Responsibility

The OBR's 28 October outlook showed output per worker in information and communication growing 7.6% a year, yet kept AI's boost to UK productivity at 0.2 percentage points a year. It does not attribute the faster growth to AI.

Central Bank of Ireland

Governor Gabriel Makhlouf said on 2 November that AI investment has supported Irish activity and flagged the debt financing behind it as a financial-stability risk. On jobs, he named skills bottlenecks and mismatches, not job losses.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.