VivaTech Taiwan Pavilion Showcases AI Prowess; Foxconn Deepens European Presence with Debut

(Central News Agency, Paris, June 17) The Parisian technology event "VivaTech" kicked off today. This is Taiwan's 8th participation, with 34 startups showcasing their AI prowess. Foxconn Technology Group also set up its first-ever pavilion, displaying advanced AI server rack systems and smart AI solutions.

VivaTech is one of Europe's largest tech startup trade shows and is in its 10th year. It brings together giants like Microsoft and Airbus, alongside startups from across the globe, such as the emerging French quantum computing startup Alice & Bob.

Under the theme "AI Taiwan," the National Science and Technology Council's "Taiwan Tech Arena" (TTA) held its opening ceremony today, highlighting Taiwan's achievements in AI technology and applications. The focus is on how AI can build smart living circles, with participating companies introducing AI into fields like training, security, energy, and retail.

European tech industry professionals who visited the Taiwan Pavilion last year noted that the pavilion seems larger this year and is quite striking even in the vast, bustling exhibition hall.

Lin De-sheng, Director of the Department of Academia-Industry Collaboration and Science Park Affairs at the National Science and Technology Council, said in an interview that this is the 8th year of participation, and a shift in the trend of participating Taiwanese startups is observable. Previously, it was focused on learning and participation, but "starting last year, we changed our mindset, hoping to do business and secure orders."

He mentioned that because of this, startups have had to make adjustments, such as having greater ambition, participating in exhibitions and competitions, and ensuring a complete supply chain to facilitate production for orders, as well as developing ideas for expanding into the European market.

Lin pointed out that under such changes, companies are bringing supply chain partners to jointly attack the market. Previously, securing orders worth over NT$100 million was considered good, but last year they achieved growth of over 5-6 times that amount, so this year they are striving to implement this model more effectively. The 34 participating startups are actually supported by 61 supply chain manufacturers behind the scenes.

Julie Lamandé, Head of Global Partnerships and Public Relations at VivaTech, attended the Taiwan Pavilion opening ceremony on behalf of the conference.

She told the Central News Agency that "Taiwan's ecosystem is extremely important to us at VivaTech." She noted that the number of participating companies is higher than last year, fully demonstrating the thriving development of Taiwan's tech and AI industries. With Foxconn also setting up a pavilion this year, the overall momentum is even greater, "significantly reflecting Taiwan's importance in many global industrial ecosystems, especially in AI and semiconductors."

Foxconn's exhibition space is directly across the aisle from the Taiwan Pavilion, featuring a black and white smart electric vehicle and an AI server rack system, which attracted considerable attention.

Foxconn Executive Vice President and spokesperson Wu Jun-yi stated that this is Foxconn's debut, and they are displaying their latest tech products targeting four major potential business opportunities in Europe: the automotive industry, AI server rack systems, AI data centers, and smart manufacturing.

Foxconn brought two reference prototype vehicles, the MODEL B (BRIA) and MODEL D, and presented the NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72, appearing in Europe for the first time. They also introduced the Asia Bay Supercomputing Center recognized by NVIDIA. In smart manufacturing, they launched a humanoid robot.

Wu said that Foxconn is no longer just a hardware manufacturer but is transforming into a technology platform service enterprise. Through these products, he emphasized that Foxconn provides smart manufacturing, smart electric vehicle, and smart city solutions—not just single components or products, but a series of services.

He also stated that under the concept of Sovereign AI, Foxconn has received many partnership inquiries from European countries, and they are currently discussing the possibilities. This shows the huge development potential of the AI industry, which can be achieved through Foxconn's "Build-Operate-Localize" (BOL) business model to achieve a win-win result.

He said: "Given Foxconn's global positioning in technology, the number of such strategic alliances will certainly increase in the future, and we welcome it."

Representative Hao Pei-chih, who is stationed in France, also expressed strong confidence in Taiwan's unstoppable development in the AI wave.

She pointed out that as Europe faces a new geopolitical situation, emphasizing reindustrialization and de-risking, European countries developing AI tech in this context are very eager to cooperate with Taiwan, not only because Taiwan has advanced chips but also because it has high advantages in AI servers and software/hardware, making it a reliable partner.