Robot delivery company Kiwibot cites U.S.-China tensions to acquire Taipei chipmaker

Bay Area/Columbia-based delivery robot company Kiwibot announced this week that it has acquired Auto Mobility Solutions. The Taipei company specializes in producing chips for the robotics and autonomous driving fields. Details of the transaction have not been disclosed. However, Kiwi founder and CEO Felipe Chávez Cortés told TechCrunch that growing tensions between China and the United States were a key driver of the acquisition.

Kiwibot called the deal “an important milestone for both companies on their journey to innovate and protect privacy in the robotics industry, especially for smart robots originating from China and deployed in Western markets.”

Given the Senate’s push for ByteDance to sell its wildly successful social media platform TikTok, this could be an instructive model for many in the industry. Previously, the U.S. government has set its sights on many Chinese technology giants such as Huawei and DJI.

Taiwan’s fragile geopolitical situation, combined with its huge share of the semiconductor market, puts it at the center of the conflict. Some in the government have even suggested that the United States bomb Taiwanese chip giant TSMC if the island nation is invaded by China. Controlling the company’s facilities would give a country a near-monopoly in certain chip verticals.

A small business like Auto Mobility Solutions is unlikely to be in the spotlight immediately, but it’s worth pointing out that the company makes chips in Taipei and Shenzhen, the latter of which is in southern China and is now a 20-minute subway ride from Hong Kong.

In a statement accompanying the news, Chavez-Cortez cited cybersecurity concerns as a key motivation. “The acquisition of Auto is a game changer for us, bringing a wealth of technological innovation and a strong patent portfolio that will significantly enhance our cybersecurity measures for AI-driven robotics,” he noted. “This This move not only strengthens our position in the market, but also securely connects Asia’s manufacturing expertise with AI developments in the West.”

Kiwibot said the deal would also help the UC Berkeley spinout build a presence in Asia, given Auto’s operations in Taiwan and China. To date, Kiwi has had its greatest success on university campuses.