Taiwan’s ASUS unveils Sovereign AI strategy for smart cities

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — As cities worldwide rush to adopt artificial intelligence, a critical question is emerging: Who controls the data? At the Smart City Summit & Expo (智慧城市展) in Taipei on Tuesday (March 17), ASUS unveiled its answer — a "Sovereign AI" strategy designed to keep citizen information within local boundaries rather than on foreign servers.

The Taiwanese tech giant presented a five-layer "AI City" architecture at the exhibition, partnering with Foxconn (鴻海) and the Taiwan Smart City Solutions Alliance (TSSA, 台灣智慧城市產業聯盟) to create what it calls a "whole city export model." The framework spans sovereign computing, AI models, platforms, applications and innovation — each layer customizable based on a city's size and resources.

"For larger city like Taipei, they may want to invest or control their own supercomputer to support their innovation," said Peter Wu (吳漢章), CEO of ASUS Cloud (華碩雲端) and Taiwan AI Cloud (台智雲). "So we define a layer called Sovereign Compute Layer, and we provide several kinds of menu from a supercomputer to edge."

The concept addresses a concern that has grown as governments worldwide grapple with cybersecurity threats and geopolitical tensions over technology supply chains. Rather than sending sensitive city data to foreign cloud providers, municipalities can build and manage their own AI systems. ASUS has deployed the model in Taipei and Taichung (台中), with a demonstration project underway in Tainan (台南).

Taiwan AI Cloud collaborated with the Tainan City Government (台南市政府) on that project, according to ASUS, though specific details about scope, budget and timeline were not disclosed. The company also showcased its locally trained "Formosa Foundation Model" (福爾摩沙大模型), a large language model designed to understand regional linguistic data and cultural context.

"Our goal is to empower every city to become more resilient, efficient, and human-centered through Sovereign AI," said Samson Hu (胡書賓), ASUS co-CEO and president of TSSA. The alliance includes approximately 30 partner companies.

ASUS said it has worked with governments in France, Greece and the Czech Republic on smart city projects, though the company did not disclose contract values or project timelines. The exhibition featured European partners showcasing case studies in transportation and public infrastructure, along with an autonomous driving demonstration using the EVO3 platform developed with international partners.

Whether cities worldwide will embrace data sovereignty — or continue relying on foreign cloud providers for convenience and cost — remains an open question. But for ASUS, the answer starts at home: Taiwan's municipalities have become the testing ground for a model the company hopes to export globally.

The Smart City Summit & Expo runs through Friday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center (南港展覽館). ◼