TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Tina Lin (林雅芳), managing director for sales and operations at Google Taiwan, said the company will expand its AI-powered systems to advance smart healthcare.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Lin said that Google has maintained a presence in Taiwan for 20 years and has since developed the country into a key AI R&D hub in Asia, per CNA.
She noted that Google has expanded its AI-related facilities in Taiwan, including a Pixel smartphone and software R&D center in New Taipei’s Banqiao District. The company has also set up an AI hardware research center in Taipei’s Shilin District, near Nvidia’s planned first overseas headquarters.
Taiwan has entered a super-aged society, and the number of people with chronic diseases continues to rise. Lin said the company will also partner with academic institutions and provide funding for R&D of AI-powered healthcare systems.
Google said it will cooperate with the National Health Insurance Administration to promote the “AI Health Network” program. The initiative will enable AI technologies to be used in hospital diagnosis and treatment, as well as in public health management.
The administration will also launch an AI-powered health advisory tool based on Google’s Gemini model. The system can provide personalized lifestyle recommendations based on information users enter. Lin added the administration has also used Google-developed AI model MedGemma to help analyze more than 30,000 medical test reports.
Lin highlighted Google’s collaborations with major Taiwanese hospitals. China Medical University Hospital uses the MedLM AI model to help doctors plan cancer treatments. Chang Gung Memorial Hospital applies AI technology to assist breast cancer ultrasound screenings, while Taipei Medical University Hospital employs AI-powered systems to streamline staff workflows.
Google.org, the charitable arm of Google, has funded National Taiwan University and National Cheng Kung University to develop AI-powered systems to support cancer diagnosis. Google.org has also donated NT$31 million (US$1 million) to the local non-profit Digital Humanitarian Association to help adopt AI-powered systems for managing diabetes in rural areas.
The administration has begun rolling out Google’s system to support diabetes diagnosis in about 20,000 clinics nationwide. Lin said the system can help doctors reduce the time needed for diabetes screenings from 20 minutes to 25 seconds.
