AI and chips have become the most sought-after resources worldwide. How to create a geo-economic cooperation with neighboring regions under the competition for resources, while also joining forces to defend against online fraud, hacker attacks, and war threats, will be crucial for survival.
In recent years, Taiwan-Japan trade has become increasingly close. The long-standing historical ties between Taiwan and Japan have deeply influenced Taiwanese culture, and due to geographical proximity and similar dietary habits, Taiwanese people love to study and travel in Japan. Japanese restaurant chains have seen great opportunities and achieved outstanding performance by expanding their business in Taiwan. In addition to cross-border cooperation in the food and beverage industry, Japan is now further engaging in high-tech industry exchanges with Taiwan. Taiwan’s startups are eyeing Japan as their first step to enter the international market by establishing new bases in Japan, opening a new window for friendly trade between Taiwan and Japan. At the same time, Japan’s manufacturing industry can collaborate with Taiwanese AI companies to solve the supply chain and chip shortage problems faced by traditional industries in Japan in the post-pandemic era.
NHK World Japan recently reported on Taiwanese startups, including Whoscall (Gogolook Inc.), TapPay (Cherri Tech, Inc.), and Ubestream.
The Japan-Taiwan Innovation Summit 2024, organized by Startup Island Taiwan and Asia Silicon Valley, in cooperation with the National Development Council, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, JETRO, and TiB (Tokyo Innovation Base), had about 70 Taiwanese and Japanese startups participating in the event. AI machine learning, financial applications, and medical technology were the focus of attention, with application scenarios including AI application products, anti-fraud and anti-hacking, military defense, and financial payment applications. Below are introductions to several Taiwanese startups.
Ubestream AI Semantic Edge Computing Technology
Ubestream develops AI Semantic Edge Computing Technology, which embeds lightweight AI semantic chips into low-end and low-power consumer electronic products. This approach can replace traditional touch interfaces. Application scenarios include air conditioning, televisions, lighting control, autonomous vehicles, mobile phones, headphones, and wearable devices. These devices do not need to connect to cloud systems. Instead, they recognize human natural language through embedded chips on the devices and use AI machine learning models to determine commands, controlling smart homes and enterprise spaces and devices.
Dentall.ai Dental Medical Record System
Dentall’s AI system helps dentists record and store photos and write medical notes, simplifying the dental treatment process and communication time. Through artificial intelligence machine learning, the AI system quickly generates tooth position images, treatment methods, and medical plans, and integrates them with the health insurance system.
Ubitus AI Generation Company
Ubitus is Taiwan’s first technology company invested by NVIDIA and has developed AI generation drawing software called UbiArt. It has even obtained permission from Hirokane Kenshi, the original cartoonist of the famous business manga “Section Chief Kosaku Shima,” to generate images of Kosaku Shima’s horse racing visits using AI.
Profet AI Enterprise Virtual AI Consultant
Profet AI (Jeyrun Intelligent Technology) has been expanding into the Japanese market since 2023 and has formed alliances with the Japanese distributors BIPROGY and IT innovation, Inc., helping the Japanese manufacturing industry with digital transformation. Profet AI’s main products are virtual data scientists and AI virtual consulting platforms, specifically designed to help enterprises that do not understand artificial intelligence learn about AI applications in the manufacturing industry.
Insto Installment Payment Application
Insto is a mobile app that focuses on inclusive economy, providing mobile payment and installment payment services. It won the 2016 FUKUOKA Tech Day Pitch Winner and was selected for the 2023 Google Startup Grind Global Startup Conference, as well as being chosen as one of the top 40 in Accelerate Global Growth.
Gogolook (Whoscall) Anti-Fraud App
Gogolook is a founding member of the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA). Its products include Whoscall, Mei-Yu-Yi, and Little Bear Call, which are “trusted technology” products specifically designed for anti-fraud and anti-hacking purposes. They can filter suspicious calls, block suspicious messages, and harassment.
Tron Future Military Defense System
Tron Future focuses on national military defense systems, with its main products being defense drone radar equipment and lightweight mobile satellite terminals. Tron Future’s T. Space Router is a lightweight satellite communication terminal for 5G coverage and will be integrated into Taiwan’s Low Earth Orbit Satellites’ 5G communication system by the end of 2025. The T. Space Router can detect drones and is based on a satellite backbone infrastructure.
CyCraft Monitoring Hacker System
CyCraft Technology, headquartered in Taiwan with subsidiaries in Japan and Singapore, is supported by The CID Group and Pavilion Capital, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings. It provides cybersecurity services for government agencies, law enforcement and national defense, banks, and high-tech manufacturing industries in the Asia-Pacific region. CyCraft uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect potential network attacks, with its main product being the XCockpit automated threat exposure management platform.