[DigitalToday Yoo Seung-a, intern reporter] Nvidia will invest $150 billion a year in Taiwan and set up a new local headquarters.

On May 27 (local time), foreign media including business outlet CNBC reported that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (젠슨 황) said the company would expand investment so Taiwan can remain at the center of the artificial intelligence revolution. After Huang announced Nvidia would raise annual spending in Taiwan to $150 billion and build a new office campus in northern Taipei, Taiwan's Taiex index rose 1.7 percent to close at a record high.

By stock, TSMC rose 1.3 percent, MediaTek climbed 8.8 percent and Delta Electronics gained 7.2 percent. The three are top semiconductor companies by market capitalisation on the Taiex. Nvidia designs semiconductors and TSMC produces them, and Nvidia is expected to become TSMC's biggest customer this year, overtaking Apple.

Nvidia plans to begin construction by the end of this year on a new office complex in northern Taipei called Constellation. Scheduled to open in 2030, the complex can accommodate 4,000 employees, four times Nvidia's current workforce in Taiwan. Huang said the new base would lead AI innovation and keep Taiwan "the world's technology manufacturing hub for a long time".

He described Taiwan's role across the supply chain. "Chips come out here, packaging happens here, and systems are also made here," he said, adding, "This is also where AI supercomputers were born." He said Nvidia spent $10 billion to $15 billion a year in Taiwan 4 to 5 years ago, but now spends $100 billion and will go to $150 billion.

The decision differs from U.S.-centred AI production strategy pursued by U.S. President Donald Trump. Nvidia began producing AI chips in the United States for the first time in April 2025, responding to the push to expand U.S. manufacturing. At the time, Huang said, "The engine of the world's AI infrastructure is being made in the United States for the first time," and stressed that U.S. production helps meet demand and strengthen supply-chain resilience.

But the latest investment reaffirms that the core of the actual supply chain is still in Taiwan. Separately from its plans to expand U.S. production, Nvidia decided to put more funding into Taiwan's ecosystem, where advanced packaging capabilities and key partners are concentrated. It plans to expand cooperation with TSMC centred on its Taiwan base and strengthen links with AI server and infrastructure partners such as Foxconn, Wistron and Quanta Computer.

The decision comes as demand for AI infrastructure surges. Big tech companies plan to invest a total of $750 billion in AI infrastructure this year, and a substantial portion is expected to go toward chips for data centres. Nvidia is also nearing the launch of its next-generation AI system, Vera Rubin. Huang called it "a generational leap" and said "the biggest infrastructure build-out in history" will begin. Nvidia expects supply-chain constraints could persist throughout the Vera Rubin product life cycle.

Uncertainty remains. Huang recently said at an event hosted by a U.S. think tank that export restrictions to China have already backfired to a significant extent, and Nvidia also acknowledged to investors that it has mostly ceded the China market to Huawei. Data centre semiconductors are currently excluded from tariff application, but the U.S. government is investigating the impact of semiconductor imports on national security, and additional tariffs could be imposed depending on the results. The Office of the United States Trade Representative said there are no immediate plans to impose new tariffs, but it is maintaining a policy of using tariffs to bring semiconductor production back to the United States.

Nvidia is pursuing a dual strategy, lowering tariff risk with U.S. investment pledges while placing Taiwan at the practical centre of AI supply-chain expansion.