by liberal japonicus
Another day, another post about AI and another thing with Ezra Klein. Huang is on a tour, I see him talking with all sorts of people, hitting on the same points, which is there is nothing to worry about and nothing to see here.
Huang is a pretty interesting character, his lifestory is detailed in his wikipedia entry. He’s Taiwanese, so I find it interesting how he’s viewed in China vs Taiwan, and how Nvidia is a fabless company, so it just designs the chips, which are produced in Taiwan and South Korea. Huang’s tied to TSMC, which is the Taiwanese powerhouse, and I’m sure he’s well aware that if something happens to TSMC, Nvidia is really just some designs. I feel like this situation contributes to Nvidia’s loans to AI companies and it is easier to think of things like this if you don’t think that you are tied to a place and a society.
Anyway, another thread to talk about the same thing. Have at it.
Interesting that, in addition to making their chips in Taiwan (like nearly everybody outside the PRC), Nvidia is also making chips in South Korea. That suggests to me that the Koreans are positioning themselves to pick up the chip-making baton if/when China decides to retake the island. Well, somebody ought to be.
Japan is also capable of building/restarting fabs as profits warrant, some chip manufacturing moved offshore to SK and TW simply because it was cheaper. I suspect the next big fab location beyond PRC, TW, SK, will be Vietnam.
@Marc, did you leave the US out on purpose? TSMC has committed more then $100B to expanding in Arizona, and has promised to be using their improved 3nm process there in 2027, and their newest 2nm process in 2028. Intel has an 18A fab in Arizona and is building another one in Ohio. Micron is building a new leading edge memory fab in Idaho. SK Hynix is building in Indiana. Samsung’s Tyler, TX fab is sampling 2nm parts and will be in full production next year. By next year, the US will be the only country where all the companies with 3nm or better processes will be producing.
Work is about to begin on Musk’s 100-million-square-foot Terafab. Completion is likely years away, even at Musk’s breakneck speeds.