TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Nvidia is reportedly narrowing down its choice of location for its new overseas headquarters in Taiwan.
CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) reportedly has prioritized Taipei as the base for Nvidia's overseas headquarters, per Commercial Times. However, Nvidia is encountering challenges finding enough land in Taipei, except in a few administrative districts with urban land rezoning plans.
Nvidia has already leased nearly 60% of the new Ruentex Yu Cheng Office Building (floors 3 to 17) in Taipei's Nangang District to serve as the new location for its Taiwan branch. The company's first R&D center in Taiwan will also relocate from Neihu Technology Park to this new Nangang building, with a lease term of approximately 10 years.
The new Nangang site is near the Taipei MRT Kunyang Station, providing convenient access to the Taiwan High Speed Rail and connections to areas such as the Hsinchu Science Park.
The Commercial Times cited a source as saying that Nvidia is looking to purchase land to build its headquarters on but "Nangang does not have any suitable large-scale public land available."
When Huang visited Taiwan in June, he met with relevant authorities regarding building on a three-hectare plot. Taipei is the preferred location, mainly because Nvidia employees are unwilling to relocate to central or southern Taiwan, according to the Commercial Times.
The Taipei City Government is actively working to identify suitable locations. Several administrative districts in Taipei are considering urban rezoning plans, but the land that can be allocated through such projects is limited.
The plans are still under study and have yet to be finalized.
An official who visited Nvidia's US headquarters said the company intends to construct its Taiwan headquarters. During Huang's June visit, when he announced plans to expand investments in Taiwan, he disclosed that Nvidia would establish a large design center within the next five years, employing at least 1,000 engineers.
The official said Huang is looking for a location for the headquarters facility. “The future headquarters will be modeled after the US Silicon Valley headquarters covering quite a vast land area," said the official.
If Taipei does not have enough land, New Taipei, Taoyuan, or Hsinchu, which are close to Nvidia's Taiwan branch and along the Taiwan High Speed Rail line are being considered, according to the Commercial Times. The newspaper reported that it is also possible that a factory could be built in the future, indicating that Nvidia's search for land is not limited to Taipei.
