Faced with concerns about future geopolitical conflicts, TSMC and ASML said they could easily destroy advanced chip production lines remotely.
ASML is a Dutch company that specializes in providing chip manufacturing equipment based on the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography process to customers, including chip production lines of TSMC - the company that produces chips for Apple such as the chip line. A-series and M-series from Apple Silicon.
TSMC owns the most advanced equipment in the semiconductor industry.
According to Bloomberg, in order to reassure the Dutch government, ASML has provided assurances about potential concerns related to the TSMC factory falling into the hands of an unwanted entity. Specifically, ASML said it can remotely disable its machines in case such a threat emerges.
It is known that each of ASML's EUV machines is the size of a bus and is sold for 217 million USD. It is used to create chips with the smallest transistors available on the market. ASML used to be a supplier of EUV machines to customers in China, but bans from the US and Dutch governments forced the company to stop doing so.
However, ASML still hopes that one day this ban can be lifted when US-China trade tensions cool down. China is one of ASML's major customers, accounting for 15% of the company's sales.
The US government is luring modern semiconductor companies to build factories in this country.
The problem is, the US has reasons to prevent China from accessing specialized machinery. President Joe Biden's administration is wanting to promote advanced chip manufacturing in the US to make this country a leader in advanced chip manufacturing. To entice chipmakers to invest in infrastructure, the US has provided various subsidies, including a $6.6 billion subsidy to TSMC in April to build its second chip fab. three in Arizona.
