On Sun, Nov 6, 2022 at 8:37 PM <spudboy...@aol.com> wrote: *> So, what would you recommend to the leaders of the US to do based on > your current knowledge?* >
The recently passed Chips And Technology bill that gives federal aid to constructing domestic chip fabrication factories will help, but it's only $10 billion and a lot more than that will be needed and even that modest request had to withstand vigorous political opposition despite the fact that a secure source for the most advanced silicon microprocessors is vital for the national security, and one short range drone attack from China armed with just a few hundred pounds of conventional explosives on just one building could bring the world's economy to its knees. On the bright side Intel seems serious about regaining the ground it lost in manufacturing expertise, everybody is desperate to get one of ASML's next generation EUV Lithography Machines when they become available in about two years but Intel, not Taiwan's TSMC, has the contract to receive the very first one. Intel orders ASML system for well over $340 mln in quest for chipmaking edge <https://www.reuters.com/technology/intel-orders-asml-machine-still-drawing-board-chipmakers-look-an-edge-2022-01-19/> John K Clark See what's on my new list at Extropolis <https://groups.google.com/g/extropolis> xxr > > > -----Original Message----- > From: John Clark <johnkcl...@gmail.com> > To: 'Brent Meeker' via Everything List <everything-list@googlegroups.com> > Sent: Sat, Nov 5, 2022 9:28 am > Subject: Chip Wars > > I highly recommend the new book "Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most > Critical Technology" by Chris Miller. It clearly explains that the small > island of Taiwan, only 100 miles off the coast of mainland China, is vital > to the world's economy because TSMC's chip fabrication plants there, which > use hyper advanced hyper precise machine tools manufactured by the Dutch > company ASML, is the only place in the world capable of mass producing > chips at the cutting edge of technology such as those used by Apple in > their phones. The US still designs the world's most advanced chips but it > no longer manufactures them, by contrast no company in Taiwan designs chips > they just manufacture them. INTEL once prided itself on its mastery of the > chip manufacturing process but in recent years it has fallen behind and is > currently incapable of making the advanced chips that TSMC can, and Micron, > the only other company that makes chips on US soil, only makes commodity > memory chips that were never on the cutting edge of technology. > > Miller points out that it's dangerous to tie the national security of the > US to the fate of an island that mainland China insists they own. Just one > of TSMC's factories, FAB #18, cost well over $25 billion and is the most > expensive factory that human beings have ever made, and just one drone > armed with a few hundred pounds of conventional explosives could disrupt > all the very delicate equipment in it and send the entire world into a deep > recession. China spends far more money importing foreign made chips than it > does importing oil and is way behind Taiwan, and even the US, in its > domestic chip manufacturing capabilities. And Russia is way behind China. > Since ASML is not allowed to sell any of their most advanced chip making > equipment to China, Miller estimates it would be a decade and cost several > trillion dollars to reach the level Taiwan is currently at, but TSMC is not > standing still and is spending furiously on R&D, so after a decade China > still wouldn't be on the cutting edge. China knows all this of course, > that's why in recent days it's been regarding Taiwan with envious eyes and > is slowly and surely drawing their plans against it. > > John K Clark See what's on my new list at Extropolis > <https://groups.google.com/g/extropolis> > > e > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAJPayv0NSjZOHnZfFZjsiXTPiRzo-6VnkZKnQbXArZBMuW-LJg%40mail.gmail.com.
