The Hot Take: Makes sense, especially if China takes Taiwan....
According to the Wall Street Journal (paywalled), Apple agreed to use Intel's U.S. chipmaking plants after White House officials pressured Tim Cook during tariff-relief talks last summer. MacRumors reports: In August 2025, Apple CEO Tim Cook was in Washington to lobby the Trump administration to drop its proposed 100 percent tariff on semiconductor imports -- a levy that would have raised costs across Apple's product line. Apple reportedly secured an exemption after pledging to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S., although many…
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The Hot Take: New Micro-FAB? Jim Keller involvement, interesting.
Atomic Semi, the semiconductor tooling startup founded by chip architect Jim Keller and DIY fabrication pioneer Sam Zeloof, has rebranded as Fab2 and moved its operations to Texas, according to the company's new site at fab2.com. The rebrand recasts the company around the idea they're calling a "fab fab," a factory that mass-produces small semiconductor fabs and the tools inside them.Fab2 designs and builds every tool in its fabs in-house, from pumps, valves, and gas lines to lithography and the vacuum chambers that house it. The company…
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The Hot Take: Intel Ramping things up to play catch up and win volume from TSMC.
Intel this week initiated expansion of its Bowers Campus in Santa Clara, California, in a bid to produce more photomasks (reticles) in the U.S. The company intends to build a new manufacturing facility and a new utility building at the site, which will reinforce the site's position as a key producer of photomasks for Intel.Go deeper with TH Premium: Chipmaking(Image credit: tsmc)A deeper look at the chipmaking supply chainTSMC's $165 billion U.S. investments examinedChina reportedly reverse-engineers EUV toolChina bets on DUV, as EUV blockade…
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The Hot Take: Samsung playing catch up and hopefully over take TSMC? Only time will tell.
Korean chip manufacturing giant Samsung is developing simulation technologies for lithography that rely on quantum computing and artificial intelligence, suggests a report from the Korean press. The technology will be used to run simulations of the first stage of the chip manufacturing process, and Samsung will also rely on artificial intelligence to streamline the process. Through the technology, the firm aims to reduce the time and cost of the lithography and etching processes. Samsung Is Developing Algorithms To Boost Its Photolithography,…
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The Hot Take: Nice to see they can break that barrier.
IBM says it has created the world's first known chip tech below 1 nanometre - but it will be some time before it's ready for production.
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The Hot Take: More manufacturing states side is good.
Samsung Electronics' foundry plant in Taylor, Texas, is showing signs of moving into equipment-level execution. Key engineers from ASML Korea, the Dutch lithography equipment giant's South Korean unit, have been dispatched to the Taylor facility and are expected to remain on site for roughly six to eight weeks, according to Korean industry publication DealSite.
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The Hot Take: They're the only manufacturer in an industry they monopolize. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding...
U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick expresses concerns in a conversation with ASML executives that China has an EUV lithography system as ASML denies shipping such scanners to the PRC.
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The Hot Take: Domestic manufacturing is key.
Samsung's multi-billion dollar advanced chipmaking factory located in Taylor, Texas, is ready to start mass production of chips for clients.
The company has confirmed that everything is ready and that mass production of advanced chips for customers will begin next year.
2nm process advancement is underway as well
Margaret Han, Vice President of Samsung's foundry division in the US, said during the Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem Forum held at the company's US headquarters yesterday that “We are ready.” She…
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The Hot Take: We'll see where glass takes us, it's an interesting change for sure.
Intel Foundry is leading the race towards Glass Substrates with its Rio Rancho facility, aiming to become the world's first to initiate mass production. Glass Substrates Are The Future of Semiconductors & Intel Foundry is Well on Its Way To Become The First To Initiate Mass Production Glass Core substrates have been gaining interest, as they have several benefits over traditional organic substrate solutions. The current substrates are also facing shortages due to the AI supercycle, leading one of the biggest substrate suppliers, Ajinomoto,…
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The Hot Take: We are going to need all the fabs we can get here.
ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said on Wednesday that he has spoken directly with Elon Musk about the TeraFab semiconductor project.
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