The US agency tasked with driving scientific research has launched a program to connect American startups with Taiwanese peers, backing the island’s ambitions to foster key players in strategic sectors like semiconductors, AI and beyond. The National Science Foundation — one of the federal government’s biggest outfits for funding research — is for the first time sponsoring a series of workshops abroad to help US startups work with their overseas counterparts. It chose to kick things off in Taiwan, which plays an increasingly pivotal role in chips and the technology supply chain. Its Ministry of Economic Affairs is backing the effort, which aims to discover and finance firms exploring “deep tech,” or cutting-edge arenas including biotechnology and quantum computing. https://www.bloomberg.com..