TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Plans for Nvidia’s headquarters in Taipei have been hit due to delays in selecting a final location in the Beitou-Shilin area of Taipei. 

On Friday, it was was reported that the time period stipulated by the memorandum of understanding between Shin Kong Life Insurance and Nvidia had expired, per CNA. Negotiations reportedly stalled due to disagreements over land development rights between Shin Kong, Nvidia, and the city government. 

Nvidia announced its decision in May to build a new headquarters in Taipei to better manage the company’s operations in Asia. The location of the future campus was designated as the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park, an area that is mostly cleared and ready for development. 

Shin Kong Life Insurance holds contracts for development rights of several plots of land in the technology park area. Two of them totaling 3.9 hectares were selected for the Nvidia project. Shin Kong reportedly sought to hand over the rights directly to Nvidia to handle the project.

Taipei determined that would break the existing rights agreement between Shin Kong and the city. The rights agreement reportedly stipulates that Shin Kong handles the construction project before handing the property over to Nvidia.

Taipei also proposed that the land rights could be returned to the city, and the government could negotiate management of the development with Nvidia, per UDN. Other reports indicate that Taipei sought to persuade Nvidia to accept a smaller plot for the project, which the company refused to accept. 

For now, the development project remains stalled, with some blaming Shin Kong Life Insurance for the delay and others alleging Taipei City has been overly cautious. The project remains a national priority representing Taiwan’s commitment to maintain a lead in the development of AI technologies.

If no consensus can be reached, the central government may intervene to guarantee Taipei’s commitment to Nvidia.