Chinese scientists have built a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence, smartphones and weapons central to the military dominance of the West<\/p>\n
Beijing has built semiconductor chips which the US has been trying to prevent over years. In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence, smartphones and weapons central to the military dominance of the West, according to Reuters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The testing is still undergoing but got completed in early 2025, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor. It was originally built by a team of engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML who reverse-engineered the company\u2019s extreme ultraviolet lithography machines or EUVs, according to two people with knowledge of the project.<\/p>\n
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADHappening before time\u00a0<\/p>\n
China has been the hub of producing chips and semiconductors and the machine is operational and successful in generating extreme ultraviolet rays.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In April, ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said that China would need \u201cmany, many years\u201d to develop such technology. But the existence of this prototype, reported by Reuters for the first time, suggests China may be years closer to achieving semiconductor independence than analysts anticipated.<\/p>\n
China still lacks and possesses some technological challenges in replicating the optical systems which the Western markets produce.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The availability of parts from older ASML machines on secondary markets has allowed China to build a domestic prototype, with the government setting a goal of producing working chips on the prototype by 2028, according to the two people.<\/p>\n
But people who are still working on the project and are closer to it say that the completion targets to 2030.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The project falls under the country\u2019s semiconductor strategy, which state media has identified as being run by Xi Jinping confidant Ding Xuexiang, who heads the Communist Party\u2019s Central Science and Technology Commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes sense that companies would want to replicate our technology, but doing so is no small feat,\u201d ASML told Reuters in a statement.<\/p>\n
China\u2019s biggest project\u00a0<\/p>\n
The team includes recently retired, Chinese-born former ASML engineers and scientists\u2014prime recruitment targets because they possess sensitive technical knowledge but face fewer professional constraints after leaving the company, the people said.<\/p>\n
Two current ASML employees of Chinese nationality in the Netherlands told Reuters they have been approached by recruiters from Huawei since at least 2020.<\/p>\n
ASML told Reuters that it \u201cvigilantly guards\u201d trade secrets and confidential information.<\/p>\n
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile ASML cannot control or restrict where former employees work, all employees are bound by the confidentiality clauses in their contracts,\u201d the company said, and it has \u201csuccessfully pursued legal action in response to the theft of trade secrets.\u201d<\/p>\n
An engineer said that the project was the biggest surprise and identification of brilliant minds. He recognised other former ASML colleagues who were also working under aliases and was instructed to use their fake names at work to maintain secrecy, the person said.<\/p>\n
Home<\/a>Tech<\/a>\u2018Manhattan Project\u2019: Is China edging closer to AI self-sufficiency with a new chipmaking machine?End of Article<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chinese scientists have built a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[827,37448,37450,37446,37447,75,84,83,37449,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-74209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-china","tag-china-achieves-technology-edge","tag-china-us-relations","tag-chinese-scientists","tag-chipmaker","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-chipmaking-machine-in-china","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}