Chunghwa Telecom Partners with Japan's NTT to Establish IOWN AI Technology Fund
Chunghwa Telecom announced a partnership with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) and international strategic partners to establish the IOWN AI Fund. The fund aims to invest in cutting-edge AI technologies, expand the IOWN ecosystem, and create new business opportunities, with operational bases in Silicon Valley and Tokyo.
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- 📰 Published: June 10, 2026 at 18:41
- 🔍 Collected: June 10, 2026 at 18:55 (14 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: June 10, 2026 at 18:57 (1 min after Collected)
(Central News Agency reporter Jiang Mingyan, Taipei, 10th) Chunghwa Telecom announced today that it has partnered with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) and international strategic partners to jointly establish the IOWN AI Fund. The fund will invest in cutting-edge technologies of the artificial intelligence (AI) era to expand the IOWN (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network) ecosystem and create new business opportunities.
Chunghwa Telecom stated that its President, Lin Rong-ci, attended the fund establishment press conference held in Tokyo, Japan. He pointed out that Chunghwa Telecom is one of the core operating partners of the IOWN AI Technology Fund, and will invest capital, telecommunications technology, and its global operational framework to discover global startups and accelerate the development of promising AI infrastructure and applications.
Chunghwa Telecom noted that the industry expects the future AI infrastructure to shift from a structure centered on large public data centers to a distributed architecture integrating medium-sized edge data centers. These will be connected via optical communication networks to build efficient and flexibly dispatchable computing resources within a distributed all-optical AI data center.
Chunghwa Telecom stated that the purpose of establishing the IOWN AI Technology Fund is precisely to seize these opportunities. By broadly investing in cutting-edge technologies centered on IOWN-related technologies (including optoelectronic fusion, semiconductors, advanced packaging, power optimization, distributed computing platforms, and AI software and applications), it aims to accelerate the development of next-generation IOWN AI infrastructure and industrial foundations.
Chunghwa Telecom explained that the IOWN AI Technology Fund will establish operational bases in Silicon Valley and Tokyo to discover potential startups globally, including in North America, Asia, and Europe. To date, the fund has attracted attention from companies in Japan, the United States, Taiwan, and other Asian regions, including companies participating in the IOWN Global Forum and Japanese financial institutions.
Chunghwa Telecom Chairman Chih-cheng Chien stated that the IOWN All-Photonics Network (APN) features extremely high speed and ultra-low latency, which can overcome distance limitations and accelerate the deployment of terminal applications.
Chien said that leveraging this characteristic, last year Chunghwa Telecom achieved the world's first cross-border co-performance, bringing Taiwan's "Guan Jiang Shou" culture to the stage of Japan's Expo, performing alongside Japan's "Cho-Kabuki" for cultural exchange between Taiwan and Japan. At the end of April this year, they further verified the application of the cross-border IOWN all-optical network in AI smart cities and smart healthcare, enabling cross-border and cross-regional collaborative applications of AI computing power.
NTT President Akira Shimada stated that as AI application areas expand to enterprise core business, Agentic AI, and Physical AI, inference-driven AI infrastructure is becoming increasingly important. Combining NTT's long-cultivated optical communication and network technologies with the cutting-edge technologies and advantages of global partners is imperative. He expressed hope that through the IOWN AI Fund, they can promote business cooperation with promising global startups. (Editor: Lin Ke-lun) 1150610
Chunghwa Telecom stated that its President, Lin Rong-ci, attended the fund establishment press conference held in Tokyo, Japan. He pointed out that Chunghwa Telecom is one of the core operating partners of the IOWN AI Technology Fund, and will invest capital, telecommunications technology, and its global operational framework to discover global startups and accelerate the development of promising AI infrastructure and applications.
Chunghwa Telecom noted that the industry expects the future AI infrastructure to shift from a structure centered on large public data centers to a distributed architecture integrating medium-sized edge data centers. These will be connected via optical communication networks to build efficient and flexibly dispatchable computing resources within a distributed all-optical AI data center.
Chunghwa Telecom stated that the purpose of establishing the IOWN AI Technology Fund is precisely to seize these opportunities. By broadly investing in cutting-edge technologies centered on IOWN-related technologies (including optoelectronic fusion, semiconductors, advanced packaging, power optimization, distributed computing platforms, and AI software and applications), it aims to accelerate the development of next-generation IOWN AI infrastructure and industrial foundations.
Chunghwa Telecom explained that the IOWN AI Technology Fund will establish operational bases in Silicon Valley and Tokyo to discover potential startups globally, including in North America, Asia, and Europe. To date, the fund has attracted attention from companies in Japan, the United States, Taiwan, and other Asian regions, including companies participating in the IOWN Global Forum and Japanese financial institutions.
Chunghwa Telecom Chairman Chih-cheng Chien stated that the IOWN All-Photonics Network (APN) features extremely high speed and ultra-low latency, which can overcome distance limitations and accelerate the deployment of terminal applications.
Chien said that leveraging this characteristic, last year Chunghwa Telecom achieved the world's first cross-border co-performance, bringing Taiwan's "Guan Jiang Shou" culture to the stage of Japan's Expo, performing alongside Japan's "Cho-Kabuki" for cultural exchange between Taiwan and Japan. At the end of April this year, they further verified the application of the cross-border IOWN all-optical network in AI smart cities and smart healthcare, enabling cross-border and cross-regional collaborative applications of AI computing power.
NTT President Akira Shimada stated that as AI application areas expand to enterprise core business, Agentic AI, and Physical AI, inference-driven AI infrastructure is becoming increasingly important. Combining NTT's long-cultivated optical communication and network technologies with the cutting-edge technologies and advantages of global partners is imperative. He expressed hope that through the IOWN AI Fund, they can promote business cooperation with promising global startups. (Editor: Lin Ke-lun) 1150610
FAQ
What is the purpose of the IOWN AI Technology Fund?
To invest in cutting-edge AI technologies, expand the IOWN ecosystem, and create new business opportunities.
What are the main technologies this fund will invest in?
Optoelectronic fusion, semiconductors, advanced packaging, power optimization, distributed computing, and AI software.
Where will the fund's operational bases be located?
In Silicon Valley, USA, and Tokyo, Japan.