America’s Big Chipmaking Blunder

ASML is behind what’s arguably the most important technology in the world right now: extreme ultraviolet lithography machines. Without these $200 million EUV machines and the semiconductors they make, there’d be no artificial intelligence revolution and the global economy would begin to slow. While the machines made in the Netherlands are sold mostly to companies in Taiwan and South Korea – TSMC and Samsung – Intel was very late to the game. The US government meanwhile under both Donald Trump and Joe Biden has been scrambling to ensure none of the machines are sold to China.