▲ Qualcomm and ASUS announce a collaboration to advance the “Pharmaceutical AI Agent” Greater Southern Taiwan Initiative, leveraging on-premises AI to enhance frontline medication safety across Southern Taiwan.
Supporting the Southern Taiwan Silicon Valley Program and Advancing Frontline Medication Safety in Southern Taiwan with On- Premises AI
Qualcomm Incorporated and ASUS Group jointly announced collaboration through the launch of the “Pharmaceutical AI Agent” program, the first powerful AI assistant designed specifically for community pharmacists that can run locally on edge devices. The initiative supports the smart healthcare implementation efforts under Taiwan’s Executive Yuan-led Southern Taiwan Silicon Valley Program. Through Qualcomm for Good, Qualcomm is working with ASUS subsidiaries, Taiwan AI Cloud (TWAI) and Taiwan Health and Bio DataBank Technology (THBC), leveraging their capabilities in AI, biomedical data and industry ecosystems, to invest technologies, platforms and resources in the initiative. AI PCs and other edge devices equipped with the Pharmaceutical AI Agent will be donated to support more than 50 demonstration pharmacies and their pharmacists across Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung, helping enhance medication safety, improve efficiency and strengthen patient education.
Taiwan officially became a “super-aged society” in 2025, with its population aged 65 and above exceeding 4.67 million. According to survey data [1], nearly 40% of older adults take multiple medications. As chronic diseases and polypharmacy become increasingly common, pharmacists must handle more complex prescription information and medication counselling needs within a limited amount of time. To address this challenge, the Pharmaceutical AI Agent differs from general drug information search or generative AI conversational tools by focusing on the actual workflows of frontline pharmacists. By using AI to integrate multiple sources of medication information, it assists pharmacists in identifying potential risks such as drug-drug interactions, duplicate therapies and inappropriate medication use, while also supporting patient medication counselling and education.
To enable the practical application of AI in frontline pharmaceutical services, the Pharmaceutical AI Agent leverages Qualcomm’s powerful edge computing technologies and development tools, integrating AI solutions, model optimization, Agent applications, and other technologies. The open-weight language model GPT-OSS was further optimized from a 120-billion-parameter large model that originally relied on cloud computing to a 20-billion-parameter model capable of running locally on an AI PC powered by Qualcomm technology. The solution also incorporates data from the open-access drug package insert database of the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA), Ministry of Health and Welfare to provide pharmaceutical information tailored to the needs of pharmaceutical services in Taiwan. THBC will also connect with and trains local demonstration pharmacies to support real-world deployment. Through on-device Edge AI computing, the AI Agent can perform inference locally even in offline environments, supporting pharmacists in the demanding work of integrating and cross-checking information across multiple prescriptions. While improving service efficiency, this also reduces the need to transmit sensitive medical and medication data to an external cloud, further strengthening data privacy, security and control. This demonstrates how sovereign AI can be put into practice in the smart healthcare industry.
Smart healthcare is an integral part of the Executive Yuan’s cross-ministerial Southern Taiwan Silicon Valley Program and Taiwan’s broader ambition to become an “AI island.” Centered on real-world clinical needs, the initiative seeks to accelerate the adoption of innovative applications combining AI, ICT and medical technologies in southern Taiwan, while improving the efficiency of healthcare resources, advancing health equity and enhancing people’s health and quality of life. In support of this policy, Qualcomm is working with ASUS Group to contribute technologies, platforms and resources. The initiative will provide ASUS Zenbook A16 AI PCs powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon® X2 Elite Extreme processor and equipped with the Pharmaceutical AI Agent, as well as Aetina’s flagship MegaEdge AIP-FR68 on-prem edge AI box powered by Qualcomm® Cloud AI 100 Ultra, enabling AI models to run efficiently on-device while strengthening data privacy protection and supporting the development of smart community healthcare in southern Taiwan. In the first phase, local health bureaus will connect community pharmacies in Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung, with deployments currently planned in collaboration with pharmacies including Evergreen Pharmacy and Yes Chain Pharmacy. These deployments will validate the feasibility, usability and effectiveness of AI-assisted medication review in real-world settings, while progressively establishing a replicable and scalable smart pharmacy model.
Chen-Hao Chang, Deputy Minister of the National Science and Technology Council, said, Chen-Hao Chang, Deputy Minister of the National Science and Technology Council, said: “To realize the vision of making Taiwan an ‘AI Island,’ the government is actively advancing the Southern Taiwan Silicon Valley Program. Building on Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and information and communications technology (ICT), and with Shalun in Tainan at its core, the initiative promotes the deployment of AI innovation in real-world settings to accelerate the development of the AI industry ecosystem in southern Taiwan. In April and June this year, we joined forces with central government agencies and local governments to host the inaugural ‘AI Impact: Smart Cities and Greater Southern Taiwan Achievements Showcase’ and the ‘Greater Southern Taiwan AI Smart Healthcare Expo,’ bringing together more than 100 organizations across industry, government, academia and research and showcasing over 100 applications, as we move toward greater cross-sector integration, business matchmaking and industrialization. In addition, in June this year, the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy Committee established Taiwan’s strategic goals for AI development. Through the development of sovereign AI, Taiwan’s local data and the values of freedom and democracy will serve as the foundation for building the AI ecosystem, with trusted sovereign AI models deployed in public sectors including healthcare, education, finance and the judiciary. This time, Qualcomm and ASUS Group have joined forces to develop the Pharmaceutical AI Agent tailored to frontline healthcare and pharmaceutical professionals, helping strengthen safeguards for medication safety. We look forward to continued public-private collaboration between industry and the governments of Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung to ensure that the benefits of cutting-edge AI innovation reach people across Taiwan, drive the robust development of the smart healthcare industry in Greater Southern Taiwan, and put sovereign AI into practice in healthcare.”
Angela Baker, VP, Corporate Responsibility and Chief Sustainability Officer at Qualcomm, said: “At Qualcomm, we believe technology has the power to improve lives by addressing real-world needs and challenges. Through our Qualcomm for Good initiative, we work with partners around the world to expand access to opportunities, strengthen communities, and help ensure that more people can benefit from advances in technology. This year’s program marks another important step in our collaboration with the ASUS Group to bring AI technology into community healthcare. We hope to build on this foundation to create new momentum for the intelligent transformation of healthcare in Taiwan and work together toward a more resilient and sustainable future.”
Neil Wu, Vice President of Sales at Qualcomm, said, “Qualcomm has long been deeply committed to Taiwan and continues to work with partners across government, industry, academia and research to apply innovative technologies in support of Taiwan’s industrial and social development. Following our Remote Healthcare Program in 2023, we are once again have the support of ASUS Group this year, and work alongside with the ecosystem partners TWAI and THBC, to bring edge AI technologies to frontline pharmacy services. This is a tangible example of how we continue to utilize technology to address local needs. Through the Pharmaceutical AI Agent program in southern Taiwan, we look forward to bringing together the strengths of Taiwan’s technology and healthcare sectors, accelerating the AI transformation of the smart health industry, and enabling innovative technologies to create broader value for society.”
▲ Peter Wu, CEO of Taiwan AI Cloud, a subsidiary of ASUS Group, said, “Starting with pharmaceutical services, we aim to establish a smart pharmacy model that can be validated, replicated, and scaled, further bringing ASUS’s AI City vision to life.”
Peter Wu, CEO of Taiwan AI Cloud (TWAI), ASUS Group, said: “The Southern Taiwan Silicon Valley Program represents an important step by Qualcomm and ASUS Group in jointly advancing smart healthcare and sovereign AI. We also appreciate the support of the Administration for Digital Industries, Ministry of Digital Affairs, in the development of the Pharmaceutical AI Agent, which has enabled ASUS and Qualcomm to further collaborate on bringing this application into pharmacies. From AI architecture and model optimization to Agent applications and real-world deployment, TWAI brings together Qualcomm’s Edge AI technologies, ASUS’s device and system capabilities, THBC’s biomedical data and healthcare ecosystem, and the real-world experience of frontline pharmacists. Starting with pharmaceutical services, we aim to establish a smart pharmacy model that can be validated, replicated and scaled, further realizing ASUS’s AI City vision and continuing to advance the deployment of sovereign AI in smart healthcare settings.”
Ching-Hui Chao, Deputy Mayor of Tainan City, said, “Tainan has long prioritized citizens’ needs at the center of its smart city development and continues to integrate AI and digital technologies into healthcare, from mobile healthcare and AI-assisted screening to its integrated health cloud, bringing technology into communities to address frontline needs. We are pleased to see Qualcomm, ASUS and industry partners contribute innovative technologies and resources to help pharmacists leverage AI to improve the efficiency of pharmacy services and enhance medication safety. We look forward to seeing more companies and ecosystem partners join public-private collaboration to expand smart healthcare applications, further strengthen the smart healthcare environment in southern Taiwan, and translate technological innovation into more convenient and reliable healthcare for our citizens.”
As a global leader in computing technology, Qualcomm is committed to delivering high-performance, power-efficient on-device AI inference solutions with robust privacy protections. Through Qualcomm for Good, Qualcomm has worked with more than 800 organizations across 75 countries and regions over 20 years, leveraging technologies including 5G wireless connectivity and AI to help bridge the digital divide and advance sustainable development globally. To date, more than 150 projects have been promoted worldwide, and more than 37.5 million people have benefited.
▲ Qualcomm and ASUS Group announced a collaboration to launch the “Pharmaceutical AI Agent” program, the first powerful AI assistant specifically designed for community pharmacists that can run locally on edge devices.
ASUS Group continues to advance its “AI City” strategy by integrating sovereign computing, models, platforms and application capabilities to drive the deployment of city-scale AI applications. Building on the existing “AI City” collaboration between ASUS and the Tainan City Government, the Pharmaceutical AI Agent further brings Edge AI and sovereign AI technologies into frontline community pharmacies. Starting with smart healthcare settings, the initiative aims to explore a replicable and scalable model for city-scale AI applications.
In Taiwan, since 2016, Qualcomm has worked under the guidance of government agencies including the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Education, National Science and Technology Council, and the Executive Yuan’s Southern Taiwan Silicon Valley Program Office, partnering with ASUS Group and many other domestic and international industry partners. With a focus on smart education and smart healthcare, Qualcomm has contributed technologies, resources and platforms to help strengthen Taiwan’s industry ecosystem and support the acceleration of the country’s digital transformation and sustainable development.
[1]: Multimedication trends among older adults in Asia, Australia and the United Kingdom: A multinational population study. Aging and Aging. 2023. Lee H, Baek YH, Kim JH, et al.