Intel wants to purchase Chinese equipment to produce chips, and Republican senators are in a mess. ASML CEO's words have become a prophecy!

Recently, Reuters reported a piece of news: Intel is evaluating a chip production equipment manufactured by a Chinese-backed company, ACM Research (Shengmei Semiconductor), and considering using it for its most advanced 14A process line.

As soon as the news broke out, Capitol Hill in the United States was in chaos - especially the Republican senators, who almost all jumped up in anger, accusing Intel of "playing with security".

At first, Da Ge was also a bit confused. After all, in recent years, the U.S. has been intensifying restrictions on China's access to advanced chip technology, and has also joined with the Netherlands and Japan to impose export controls on key equipment such as lithography machines. But now, Intel, which is regarded as the "backbone" of the U.S. semiconductor industry, how come it is using Chinese equipment on its most cutting-edge production lines?

ACM Research is a company listed on the NASDAQ in the United States, with its headquarters in California, but its core R&D and manufacturing base is located in Shanghai. Interestingly, on the day when the Reuters report was released, the stock price of ACM's subsidiary in Shanghai rose by 8%, indicating that the market clearly sensed some kind of breakthrough signal.

If even Intel is using equipment made by Chinese companies to produce AI chips, then the technical moat that the United States has painstakingly built may be quietly being filled by its own people.

In fact, this scene had already been foreseen. Last year, ASML CEO Peter Wets said publicly: "It is impossible to completely prevent China from obtaining any semiconductor equipment. They will eventually be able to make it themselves." At that time, many people considered this statement as alarmist. Now it seems that he was more like a prophet.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1851830009832778/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.