The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET) was invited to the NYU Stern School of Business on April 29, 2026 to participate in a public seminar titled “Supply Chain Resilience and Economic Security in the AI Era.” During the event, DSET representatives presented their latest research findings on semiconductor geopolitics and engaged in an in-depth exchange with approximately 20 NYU students regarding U.S.-Taiwan economic relations and security challenges.
The seminar was opened by DSET CEO Dr. Jeremy Chih-Cheng Chang, who analyzed the current global technological landscape from a Taiwanese perspective. Dr. Chang emphasized that Taiwan, bolstered by its world-leading semiconductor manufacturing and a mature hardware ecosystem—including AI servers and Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs)—has emerged as the United States’ fourth-largest trading partner and an indispensable player in the AI era. Despite deepening economic ties between Taiwan and the U.S., Dr. Chang noted that Taiwan continues to face persistent economic and military coercion from China, alongside “gray zone” tactics such as the cutting of subsea cables. He stressed that these threats not only challenge Taiwan’s national security but also highlight the urgent need to prioritize security and resilience as core pillars of international cooperation.
Ines Chung, a Policy Analyst in DSET’s Economic Security Research Program, shared insights on the strategic importance of advanced packaging. She pointed out that, facing constrained access to front-end advanced process nodes, China is aggressively developing advanced packaging and system integration as a strategic parallel track. By leveraging its industrial scale in Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT), substrates, and PCB manufacturing, China aims to stack and integrate the best available domestic chips to achieve “good enough” system performance and computing power. Citing Huawei’s AI products as a case study, she highlighted that system-level scaling via advanced packaging has become a new battlefield in geotechnological competition.
DSET Global Fellow Sunny Cheung provided a comprehensive assessment of the global competition in Physical AI and robotics. He noted that China currently holds a significant advantage in hardware and mass manufacturing, accounting for approximately 70% of global humanoid robot sales with a highly cost-competitive supply chain. In response to this challenge, he emphasized that the U.S. should adopt a strategy of “owning the brain while sourcing the body from trusted partners.” In this framework, Taiwan—with its expertise in semiconductors, ICT integration, and industrial edge computing—stands as a core partner for the U.S. in ensuring the security of the global robotics industry.
In conclusion, Dr. Chang summarized China’s strategic response as a dual-track approach of external evasion and internal advancement. On the external front, this involves circumventing controls through model distillation, overseas data centers, talent poaching, shadow networks, and smuggling controlled products. Simultaneously, China is bolstering domestic capabilities by using advanced packaging to compensate for hardware gaps, improving algorithmic efficiency and system-level engineering, and utilizing open-source ecosystems to amplify its influence. This sophisticated strategy aims to achieve significant strategic impact and maintain technological momentum despite international sanctions.
