Economy Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) says Taiwan leads the world in AI hardware, but there is still room for improvement in AI development and applications. That came during the 2026 Best AI Awards ceremony on Saturday, April 25.

The competition is divided into two categories: AI applications and IC design. Domestic and international companies and students compete for the top prize of NT$1 million (US$32,000) in the corporate category and NT$300,000 (US$9,500) for students. The aim is fostering AI innovation as well as discovering domestic and attracting foreign talent.

Kung said that this year’s competition had a large number of medical and agricultural submissions, with the former alone accounting for 25%. He said he will therefore urge relevant ministries to increase the prize money for next year’s event.