Welcome to the Luxury City Built by Taiwan’s A.I. Boom - The New York Times

Fortunes, luxury buildings and birthrates are rising in the city at the center of Taiwan’s chip supply chain. The shopping mall in Hsinchu, called Big City, ranks among Taiwan’s top retail centers. Credit... Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times Supported by By Amy Chang Chien and Meaghan Tobin Reporting from Hsinchu, Taiwan April Lo remembers when the most coveted real estate in Taiwan was farmland. When she moved to the area 16 years ago, there were no department stores, office parks or fine-dining restaurants. “It was very desolate,” she said. Today, nothing could be further from the truth. The rice fields have given way to Hsinchu, home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and ground zero for an industry driving the global economy: the production of the advanced computer chips powering the artificial intelligence boom. As Taiwan’s semiconductor industry took off, TSMC made chips that drive virtually every kind of electronic device. That includes the sought-after A.I. accelera

Fortunes, luxury buildings and birthrates are rising in the city at the center of Taiwan’s chip supply chain. The shopping mall in Hsinchu, called Big City, ranks among Taiwan’s top retail centers. Credit... Lam Yik Fei for The New York Times Supported by By Amy Chang Chien and Meaghan Tobin Reporting from Hsinchu, Taiwan April Lo remembers when the most coveted real estate in Taiwan was farmland. When she moved to the area 16 years ago, there were no department stores, office parks or fine-dining restaurants. “It was very desolate,” she said. Today, nothing could be further from the truth. Th