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Top Chipmakers Have 'Kill Switch' if China Invades Taiwan
Yahoo Tech News ^ | 05/24/2024 | Huileng Tan

Posted on 05/24/2024 11:12:00 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

* Chipmakers ASML and TSMC can disable advanced chipmaking machines remotely, Bloomberg reports.

* The move addresses growing fears of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a key semiconductor producer.

* A China-Taiwan conflict could severely impact the global economy.

Two of the world's most important chip companies can flip a "kill switch" remotely on their most advanced chipmaking machines should China invade Taiwan, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Netherlands' ASML — Europe's top tech company by market value — supplies advanced machines to chipmaking companies. They include Taiwan's TSMC, which produces, by some estimates, 90% of the world's most advanced processor chips.

The news of a forced shutdown, or a "kill switch," on ASML's chipmaking gear comes amid intensifying rivalry between Washington and Beijing and mounting concerns over a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.

Taiwan is the world's epicenter for semiconductor chips, the ubiquitous parts that are used in products from data centers to smartphones. A war in the region would have major consequences for the global economy.

The US, citing national security concerns, imposed restrictions on China under the Advanced Computing Chips Rule in November. The restrictions make it harder for the East Asian giant to import advanced AI chips from American manufacturers.

(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; China; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: china; semiconductors; taiwan; tsmc
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To: little jeremiah; dfwgator

Shut down technology world wide.
Black swan event for stocks

Xxxxxx

Need to make chips on shore


21 posted on 05/24/2024 12:30:11 PM PDT by thinden (buckle up ....)
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To: SeekAndFind

22 posted on 05/24/2024 12:35:47 PM PDT by catnipman (A Vote For The Lesser Of Two Evils Still Counts As A Vote For Evil)
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To: SeekAndFind

A successful kill switch could just be opening up the cleanroom to the salt air. Silicon and salt don’t mix.


23 posted on 05/24/2024 12:45:40 PM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear (Kafka was an optimist.)
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To: who_would_fardels_bear

Yup.


24 posted on 05/24/2024 1:30:02 PM PDT by null and void (“No matter how cynical you become, it’s never enough to keep up”. ~ Lily Tomlin)
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To: who_would_fardels_bear
But that would be more or less (mostly more) irreversible.

If I know the Taiwanse, they have a kill switch, AND a resurrection switch.

25 posted on 05/24/2024 1:32:39 PM PDT by null and void (“No matter how cynical you become, it’s never enough to keep up”. ~ Lily Tomlin)
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To: thinden

Duh, got it know. (pounding head with fist)


26 posted on 05/24/2024 1:49:58 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Nothing Can Stop What Coming)
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To: MtnClimber
"I sold all of my TSMC stock. Too much risk."

Too soon? I smell a bluff. The threat of a shutoff switch is cheap insurance, easy to say, not so easy to do.

27 posted on 05/24/2024 4:04:51 PM PDT by HangThemHigh (Entropy is not what it used to be.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I swear we heard this story years ago but I can’t remember just when.


28 posted on 05/24/2024 4:08:22 PM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (“History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes” - Possibly Mark Twain.)
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To: dfwgator

“Gee maybe it would be a good idea to make chips here, don’cha think?”

That’s crazy talk.

L


29 posted on 05/24/2024 4:09:01 PM PDT by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: MtnClimber

The problem with TMC USA is that there are not enough Taiwanese workers in Arizona, only poorly educated Americans and illegal aliens.


30 posted on 05/24/2024 7:29:03 PM PDT by armourenthusiast (I capitalize everything related to South)
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To: armourenthusiast

I have heard that TSMC had that complaint.


31 posted on 05/25/2024 3:46:43 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page. More photos added.)
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