Google (GOOGL) has inaugurated its largest artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure hardware engineering centre outside the United States, in Taipei, underscoring Taiwan’s growing importance in the global tech ecosystem, The Times of India reports.

Aamer Mahmood, vice-president of Platforms Infrastructure Engineering at Google Cloud, framed the opening not merely as a building but as “an investment in an ecosystem, a testament to Taiwan’s place as an important centre for global AI innovation” according to Reuters.

The new facility has been built to a backdrop of some local opposition though as political parties in Taiwan squabble over whether or not it should be moved.

The newly opened centre in the Shilin district of north Taipei will host several hundred employees, according to local media reports. The technologies developed and tested on site — including advanced AI-chip integration on motherboards and servers — are intended for deployment across Google’s global data-centre network. “The technology developed and tested in Taipei is deployed in Google data centres around the world, which in turn power Google devices that billions of people rely on everyday,” Mahmood is reported as saying by Reuters.

Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-te, speaking from the capital described the opening as a clear signal of long-term commitment from Google. “This also allows the world to see that Taiwan is not only a vital part of the global technological supply chain, but also a key hub for building secure and trustworthy AI,” he said at the ceremony.