Computex 2025: Five Takeaways From Asia’s Biggest AI Tech Show-OxBig News Network

(Bloomberg) — With a lot of the world’s consideration on the AI race between the US and China, this week’s Computex convention served as a stark reminder of the central position that Taiwan continues to play within the world expertise trade.

The 2025 version of Asia’s signature tech gathering didn’t break as a lot new floor as final yr, when Nvidia Corp.’s Jensen Huang unveiled a multi-year roadmap for AI chip design. But it nonetheless drew the eye of an trade parsing the fallout from Washington’s marketing campaign to curb Beijing’s tech ambitions within the aftermath of DeepSeek.

Here are the main takeaways from Computex 2025:

Consumer AI Needs More Time 

There was scant point out of shoppers this yr. In 2024, Qualcomm Inc. devoted its presentation to how AI would make every part higher and we’d by no means once more want our laptop computer chargers on the transfer. This time round, it flipped to a script targeted on enterprise purposes for AI.

Foxconn, often known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., used its first keynote deal with on the present to go large on heavy-duty AI, from making cities smarter to bringing robots to manufacturing and making EV design extra environment friendly. The firm that assembles the majority of the world’s iPhones had nothing to excite shoppers.

Asustek Computer Inc. provided a sobering outlook on the prospects of so-called AI PCs. 

Samson Hu, co-chief govt officer of the Taiwanese laptop gear maker, mentioned AI PCs will take a yr or two earlier than they go mainstream. That’s as a result of the software program continues to be immature, plus new tariffs from the US are more likely to flatten near-term development. Asus might need to hike costs within the US by as a lot as 10% to take care of these levies, Hu mentioned.

The debut of DeepSeek in January modified the character of AI, highlighting China’s advances within the subject whereas dismantling primary assumptions about computing wants. 

Huang was among the many few executives who addressed that first brazenly, saying that China is “incredible” at software program improvement and has the assets to make up for any technological hole. 

DeepSeek additionally popularized reasoning fashions, which require extra uncooked computing energy. “And so now the reasoning model is not one shot, but it’s hundreds of shots,” Huang instructed reporters this week. “DeepSeek increased the amount of computing need by maybe 100 to 1,000 times.”

The most-clicked headlines centered round Nvidia’s delicate place because the US pursues chip restrictions meant to curtail China’s tech ascent. That got here to a head Wednesday, when Huang branded that effort a “failure” and known as for Washington to again away.

If the US doesn’t permit Nvidia to promote inside China, native firms like Huawei Technologies Co. will fill the void, he warned. “The local companies are very, very talented and very determined,” Huang mentioned. “And the export controls gave them the spirit, the energy and the government support to accelerate their development.”

While key officers in Washington purchase that argument because it applies to the remainder of the world, US President Donald Trump’s administration has doubled down on measures concentrating on Beijing.

Executives in Taiwan little doubt took word of two associated developments. Huawei hosted its AI developer gathering the identical week, touting the Ascend chips that Beijing desires to see supplant Nvidia’s silicon. And Xiaomi Corp. occurred to announce it’s developed its personal superior 3-nanometer cell chip to compete with Qualcomm.

Intel Corp.’s new boss labored exhausting to fix ties with the Taiwanese companions, after his predecessor Pat Gelsinger raised considerations concerning the island’s (learn: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s) dominance in semiconductors.

Lip-Bu Tan praised native provide chain companions throughout an organization occasion in Taipei celebrating its fortieth anniversary on Monday. 

Even Nvidia devoted a lot time and flooring area on the convention to lauding its Taiwanese companions. SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son was additionally on the town for the week, although like Tan he was maintaining a low public profile. 

There was little public dialogue about one of the vital urgent questions for tech buyers: have we overestimated the necessity for datacenters? Tech shares from Nvidia to Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have gyrated wildly in 2025 partly due to that overarching uncertainty.

To make certain, a lot of the attendees profit immediately from spending on the servers and elements wanted to energy datacenters and AI improvement. Nvidia’s CEO echoed the sentiment.

“We’re several hundred billion dollars into tens of trillions of dollars of AI infrastructure buildout,” Huang mentioned.

–With help from Debby Wu and Naman Tandon.

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