Paper short abstract:

The present research examines the knowledge production processes of start-up founders, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists in their work of creating and investing in artificial intelligence technologies in Taipei, Taiwan.

Paper long abstract:

Based upon ethnographic research in Taipei, Taiwan, the present research examines the way in which start-up founders, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists understand themselves in their work of creating and investing in artificial intelligence technologies by focusing upon knowledge production.

Taiwan’s history as a global hardware manufacturer forms background for collaborations between start-up companies, accelerators, venture capital firms, big technology firms, and the state in this period of accelerated growth of Taiwan’s high-tech industries. The research explores organisational principles of AI startup companies, accelerators, incubators, and ecosystem builders aiming to apprehend the logics present in this ecosystem.

This exploration of the thinking around technological devices is intended to disrupt the assertion that technology exists external to human subjects and social relations. In contrast, the research focuses upon the logics engendered by the collaboration of human activity in the production of technological devices emphasising the role of knowledge production in spaces of innovation in artificial intelligence.