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AI server boom funds $314 universal cash payout in Taiwan — President Lai Ching-te says the payout ensures the country's AI windfall 'can be shared by all,' 11% GDP growth and $903B export surge finance $7.4B dividend
Taiwan will send NT$10,000 (roughly $314 USD) in cash to every resident next year, President Lai Ching-te said Monday. The 2027 central government budget sets aside NT$235.7 billion ($7.4 billion USD) so that, in his words, the "AI dividend can be shared by all."
Lai, quoted in a Presidential Office release reported by CNA, credited surging global demand for AI, high-performance computing, and cloud services with lifting projected 2027 general revenue to NT$3.93 trillion, enough to fund the payment with a balanced budget and what he called "effectively no new borrowing."
Taiwan's statistics agency, the DGBAS, raised its 2026 GDP growth forecast to 11.05% on August 14, up from 9.64% in May and the fastest pace since the economy expanded 12.75% in 1987. Output grew 14.15% year on year in the first half, and the agency now expects merchandise exports to reach $903.6 billion this year, a 41.19% jump and the sharpest increase in five decades.
Servers and related goods should account for almost 40% of those exports, up from around 30% in 2025, according to DGBAS statistics department head Tsai Yu-tai. Taiwanese manufacturers, including Foxconn, Quanta, and Wistron, build most of the world's AI servers and rack-scale systems, and that output has already pushed U.S. imports from Taiwan past imports from China for the first time in decades. The concentration extends to equities: TSMC alone represents about 40% of a Taiwanese stock market that overtook the UK's in total value earlier this year.
Lai acknowledged that the boom hasn't reached everyone, pointing to workers in services, traditional industries, and small businesses outside the tech sector. DGBAS figures back him up, as non-tech exports rose just 8.6% in the first seven months of the year, a fraction of the headline rate.
Taiwan paid out an identical NT$10,000 per person starting in November 2025, but under a NT$550 billion special budget pitched as relief from U.S. tariffs and inflation rather than as a share of AI profits. That round covered citizens, foreign permanent residents, and foreign spouses holding residence permits. The Presidential Office hasn't confirmed eligibility, timing, or distribution methods for the 2027 payment.
The opposition Kuomintang, which controls the legislature alongside the Taiwan People's Party, responded Tuesday by demanding Lai double the payment to NT$20,000. The same coalition passed the 2026 budget only last week after a record delay, cutting NT$48 billion from the Cabinet's proposal, so a smooth review is far from guaranteed.
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Luke James is a freelance writer and journalist. Although his background is in legal, he has a personal interest in all things tech, especially hardware and microelectronics, and anything regulatory.
