The US missed a chance to become a leader in chip technology

11

Sophisticated machines for producing microchips using extreme short-wave ultraviolet light are currently the most significant electronic devices in the world. Their emergence has enabled the assembly of chips that enable radical changes in computing power, paving the way for a new generation of artificial intelligence tools.

According to Bloomberg, these important factors have made access to Technology EUV is a national issue economic security of the USA and China, between which a real struggle has unfolded.



The problem for Washington and Beijing is that EUV vehicles are made by only one company: ASML Holding NV. Each device is the size of a bus and costs more than $200 million apiece. To date, more than 300 assembled systems have been sold, making ASML the most valuable technology company in Europe, with a market capitalization of more than $350 billion.

How did the US manage to cede control of this important technology? Part of the reason is that relatively few US IT companies have realized that the technology is promising and viable. Another reason: poor judgment on the part of the world's largest chipmaker, Intel Corp.

Since about the beginning of the decade, the US has relied on the Dutch government to prevent ASML from selling any devices to China. So far, these efforts have been successful: there are still no EUV vehicles in China.

However, Washington’s “victory” is Pyrrhic - the United States also does not have technology, even purchased from partners from the Netherlands (unlike China). Now that the Joe Biden administration has thrown all its efforts into eliminating the imbalance, it may seem that it is already too late - the PRC has gone far ahead and will continue to widen its lead.

The US leadership needs to abandon the idea of ​​a pure market and act as a rival to China in a vital area, providing development and financing. Otherwise, America will turn into a third world country, at least technologically, becoming dependent on high-tech imports from rival China.
11 comments
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  1. Wooh
    Wooh
    0
    April 13 2024 07: 44
    Photolithographic machines began to be produced in Russia.
    1. The comment was deleted.
  2. strange guest
    strange guest
    +3
    April 13 2024 07: 55
    ASML is owned by American Capital Group and Blackrock.
  3. Vox Populi
    Vox Populi
    -1
    April 13 2024 18: 06
    Now the Americans are definitely gone, they will turn to the Chinese and us, but it’s no use! winked
  4. EXPrompt
    EXPrompt
    -1
    April 13 2024 18: 40
    Did the states even have a chance?.. Tom Cook, the head of Apple, when he was offered to move production, explained to Trump 10 years ago that there were no specialists in order to launch electronic production in the USA. You need at least 10.000 of them.. and then with such prices and energy as in the USA there is no chance at all..
  5. The comment was deleted.
  6. Kentttt
    Kentttt
    +2
    April 14 2024 04: 08
    Short ultraviolet technology was technically developed in the USA.
    But the money issue was resolved simply - they poured everything into a bag and found a site for setting up a plant.
    Well, of course, none of the European five could give primacy to their competitors!
    So it turned out that the USA and large European countries disappeared. At the exit, Belgium and the Netherlands had all the conditions. These are education, technical literacy, availability of space, availability of transport interchanges.
    The plant itself employed specialists from the USA, Taiwan, specialized specialists from Europe, and positioners from Japan (this is AMSL in the Netherlands).
    The final products do not go to unfriendly countries China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, etc.
    But the work and maintenance of machines is so complex that specialists from Taiwan take on it!
    Workers from Leipzig (Germany) and Italy, USA are on the way..
    In any case, this is a complex technological foundation for the West for decades. In addition, the issues of US cooperation with Europe have been resolved.
  7. Kentttt
    Kentttt
    0
    April 14 2024 04: 11
    Quote: Strange guest
    ASML is owned by American Capital Group and Blackrock.

    There is a complex system of shareholders.
    1. twice-born
      twice-born
      0
      April 17 2024 21: 26
      Everything is a setup and belongs to at most two or three ruling clans. Even if someone on the left suddenly gets involved in such strategic sectors, then, if anything happens, they will cut everyone down to the seventh generation! Naturally, everyone will die quietly from natural causes and in accidents.
  8. Kentttt
    Kentttt
    +2
    April 14 2024 04: 13
    Quote: Uuh
    Photolithographic machines began to be produced in Russia.

    What parameters is the question?
  9. Kentttt
    Kentttt
    +1
    April 14 2024 04: 14
    Quote from Vox Populi
    Now the Americans are definitely gone, they will turn to the Chinese and us, but it’s no use! winked

    Yeah...the West is gone
  10. The comment was deleted.
  11. savage3000
    savage3000
    +1
    April 16 2024 17: 14
    The problem for Washington and Beijing is that EUV vehicles are made by only one company: ASML Holding NV.

    Author, what nonsense is this??? Asml does half of everything based on US patents. And the USA determines where asml can sell and where not. And the United States controls everything there.

    Teach materiel
  12. twice-born
    twice-born
    0
    April 17 2024 21: 19
    What nonsense, as if the Dutch exist on their own, they developed and built everything, and do not obey the Americans! Where have the Chinese gone if they cannot create the same chips and lithographs themselves as the companies owned by the Americans?!