ASML, TSMC Can Disable Chip Machines If China Invades Taiwan

ASML Holding NV and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) have methods to disable the world’s most sophisticated chipmaking machines if China invades Taiwan, according to people familiar with the matter, Diederik Baazil, Cagan Koc, and Jordan Robertson reported for Bloomberg News.

ASML and TSMC could remotely disable the EUV chip-making machines that only the former manufactures. I Photo: ASML Facebook

Officials from the US government have privately expressed concerns to both their Dutch and Taiwanese counterparts about the implications of Chinese aggression escalating into an attack on the island, which produces the vast majority of the world’s advanced semiconductors, two sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

ASML and TSMC could remotely disable the EUV chip-making machines that only the former manufactures.

TSMC is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of computer chips for smartphones and various electronic products. ASML exclusively produces the expensive EUV machines that clean and print microprocessors, with the latest model costing $380 million.