2nd Best AI Awards Unveils Top 100: Twin Engines of Agentic AI and Edge AI Drive Industry Upgrades

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) held the finals and award ceremony for the 2nd Best AI Awards at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 2 (TaiNEX 2) on Saturday, April 25. This year's competition attracted 1,487 teams from 36 countries worldwide, with international participation nearly doubling compared to the inaugural edition. From a pool of 253 finalist teams, 100 awards were selected. The eight most prestigious Gold Medals were awarded to teams from Delta Electronics, Kneron Inc., BioPro Scientific, Alpenglow Tek, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), National Formosa University (NFU), and representative teams from Thailand and Poland. Beyond showcasing the latest in AI hardware and software, the event highlighted the acceleration of these technologies into real-world industrial applications and forged international partnerships, significantly elevating Taiwan's standing and competitiveness in the global AI arena.

Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-Hsin stated that AI has become one of the most critical frontiers of global competition. While Taiwan holds key advantages in AI hardware sectors such as semiconductors and servers, the next phase focuses on transforming AI into practical applications across industries to generate real benefits. Under the Executive Yuan's New Ten Major AI Infrastructure Projects framework, the MOEA is responsible for the implementation of AI applications. To date, it has established over 50 pilot test beds with AI automation capabilities and developed application models covering 23 key industries. Through the MOEA Industry Competitiveness Advisory Group, the ministry has deployed over 1,000 consultants across the Northern, Central, Southern, and Eastern regions, assisting more than 2,600 enterprises in adopting AI. Supporting this industrial shift is a robust focus on talent cultivation, with the cumulative number of participants in the iPAS certification exceeding 21,000, of whom over 8,000 have obtained the credential. This demand is further underscored by more than 4,800 enterprises expressing willingness to hire or offer salary increases, reflecting the industry's high demand for job-ready AI talent.

Capitalizing on the rapid rise of Agentic and Edge AI, the Department of Industrial Technology explained how this year's competition steered industry focus toward the latest AI technologies, marking a transition from AI as a passive tool to an intelligent partner capable of autonomous judgment and task execution. Complementing this strategic shift, over 430 projects in the competition were focused on lightweight AI applications, enabling AI to operate in real-time within terminal devices such as sensors and factory machinery. A total of 590 teams in the competition also utilized open-source platforms like GitHub for development and completed registration on Crunchbase, further enhancing Taiwan's participation and visibility in the international AI sector.

To facilitate substantive business matchmaking, follow-up initiatives will extend to the COMPUTEX exhibition in June, where dedicated matchmaking sessions will be held. These sessions will assist winning teams in establishing connections with domestic and international venture capital firms and potential buyers, further expanding commercialization opportunities for AI innovation. The ministry hopes these efforts will continue to translate AI and IC innovations into tangible real-world impact, fueling a broader intelligent upgrade across the industry.