Exclusive interview with Max Chen, Director of Government Relations, Asia Region, Shield AI. (Photo by reporter Zhang Jiaming)
[Reporter Tu Jumin/Reporting from Taipei] Unmanned vehicles are developing vigorously around the world and seeking to establish a "non-red supply chain." Chen Yiru, director of Asian government relations at Shield AI, said that if a drone supply chain that does not rely on China is to be established, "it is impossible for the whole world to ignore Taiwan." He specifically mentioned that two years ago, Shield The proportion of AI products using Taiwanese materials accounted for less than 1%, but this increased to 16% in May and June this year. The company expects that in the near future, a single drone may have as much as 25% of the value, provided by Taiwanese suppliers.
Shield AI was founded in 2015. Its core business focuses on artificial intelligence autonomous systems and military unmanned vehicles, including Hivemind "AI pilot" and V-BAT drones, which are its core products. The goal is to enable various military platforms to have the ability to fly autonomously, operate collaboratively, and perform tasks in interference environments.
In an exclusive interview with this newspaper, Chen Yiru said that Shield AI is not a short-term layout in Taiwan, but a long-term investment. It values Taiwan's mature drone, electronics, software, and hardware industrial base. Regardless of the scale of the local market, for Shield AI, Taiwan has become an important factory and supply chain base.
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The development of drones in our country is booming. The picture shows President Lai Qingde giving a tour of the drone industry. (Taken from the official website of the Presidential Palace)
He said that drones cover a wide range of software and hardware requirements. There is a lot of room for Taiwanese talents to invest in the development process of "Physical AI". Academic research talents can participate in AI model training, which is one example. In terms of hardware, how to make drones lighter, stay in the air longer, and have better heat dissipation are all areas where Taiwan's industry has advantages. Therefore, Shield AI is very optimistic about the future development of Taiwan's industry.
In addition to sourcing components, Shield AI hopes to keep more capabilities in Taiwan. Chen Yiru said that Shield AI’s ideal cooperation model is to return to “real utility” and that one of the important links in long-term development in Taiwan is to establish a more complete local supply chain.
He said that if products are introduced to Taiwan, subsequent maintenance or personnel training must still be sent back to the United States, which is unreasonable under special or wartime circumstances. Therefore, we hope to cultivate local partners in Taiwan and gradually build up logistics maintenance, training, and even partial assembly capabilities, so that after the products are introduced, Taiwan itself will have the ability to continue to use and support them.
Brandon Tseng, co-founder and president of Shield AI, stated in writing that Shield AI has a firm commitment to deepening its presence in Taiwan. It has set up an office in Taipei 101 and plans to double the size of its local team next year. It will also establish a close cooperative ecosystem with local partners in Taiwan, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hanxiang and Leihu, to jointly assist Taiwan in building a more resilient defense capability.
The Russia-Ukraine war used a large number of unmanned vehicles. However, compared to the vast land area of Europe, Taiwan's combat environment, surrounded by sea, is obviously different. Chen Yiru said that Taiwan's officials and military personnel are well aware of their own needs and potential combat scenarios. The key lies in how to withstand severe electrical warfare interference. The Hivemind autonomous system can enable unmanned vehicles to continue to perform tasks under strong interference, and can strengthen Taiwan's needs through independent system technology cooperation.
Chen Yiru also said that Shield AI realized from its experience in Ukraine that only by truly entering the local area can it understand customer needs. Therefore, Shield AI discusses with actual users and policy units in Taiwan every day to understand the professional analysis and needs of the Taiwan military, and then assists partners to develop "sovereign AI" capabilities that meet their own needs.
In terms of technical cooperation, Chen Yiru said that Shield AI hopes to provide software development kits (SDKs) and other tools to allow Taiwanese engineers to design software models and mission functions in accordance with national defense needs, rather than simply introducing a fixed foreign system. Countries are now thinking about how to take control of AI into their own hands. Taiwan also needs to establish capabilities that can develop and adjust independently.
