Taiwan’s expansion into the multifunctional robot industry is in full swing and might quicken after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co chairman and CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) last week said that local manufacturers could have an essential role in its supply chain.

Wei’s faith is based on Taiwan’s strength in artificial intelligence (AI), chip and precision machinery areas and software design abilities. Building a humanoid or an AI robot requires powerful chips and a variety of key components from planetary roller screws and six-dimensional force torque sensors to hollow-cup motors.

Numerous Taiwanese companies have tapped into this market earlier than their global competitors to supply microcontrollers, sensors, cameras, ball screws and motors used by service robots such as household robots. They have taken advantage of their strong positions in the AI, automation and drone sectors. The software and hardware supply chains for humanoid robots heavily overlap with those of smart devices, industrial robots and drones, Taipei-based TrendForce Corp said in a report.

Based on TrendForce’s projections, the market value of the humanoid robot industry is to skyrocket to more than US$2 billion by 2027, at a compound annual growth rate of 154 percent from this year to 2027. The growth is to accelerate next year, it said.

As the world faces labor shortages and aging populations, demand for companion and caregiving robots is expected to increase rapidly, it said.

Jumping on this AI robot bandwagon, Delta Electronics Co, the nation’s biggest power supply and electronic components maker, on Saturday said that it planned to subscribe to 2,442 preferred B2 shares of Neura Robotics GmbH for 10 million euros (US$10.4 million) through its subsidiary Delta International Holding Ltd BV.

The German robotics company said it has joined Nvidia Corp’s humanoid robot developer program and used the Nvidia Isaac robot development platform and its Neuraverse platform to help speed up the development and deployment of humanoid robots.

That is Delta’s latest move to expand its presence in the AI robotics market. In June, it demonstrated its new robotic arms in collaboration with Ace Pillar Co during the Computex trade show.

AI server assemblers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, Quanta Computer Inc, Wistron Corp and Inventec Corp are also striving to make inroads into the AI robot market in search of growth engines.

Mid-size companies such as automotive key component supplier Hota Industrial Manufacturing Co, automation systems supplier Mirle Automation Corp and machinery maker Hiwin Technologies Co also seek to play a role in the robot supply chains. Those companies are reportedly on the shortlist of Nvidia Corp’s humanoid robot supply chain partners.

In contrast to the private sector’s proactive approaches to develop AI robots, surprisingly the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), the nation’s technology policymaker, did not include humanoid robots or AI robots in its flagship technology development programs. So far, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has only offered some smaller-scale incentives for research-and-development efforts on them. NSTC Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) last week said that the agency would come up with a new program for the humanoid robot industry within six months. The government agencies should quicken their pace to align with private companies, or Taiwan could risk lagging behind the rest of the world in ushering in the era of humanoid robots.