In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence, smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance, Reuters has learned
Completed in early 2025 and now undergoing testing, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor. It was built by a team of former engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML (ASML.AS), opens new tab who reverse-engineered the company’s extreme ultraviolet lithography machines or EUVs, according to two people with knowledge of the project.
Add: Arch
“manhattan project” lol. this isn’t a weapon.
if that’s true, china will soon be capable of making similar chips taiwan was making for years now.
literally just another competitor on a technology that already exists (and the chinese already use).
Context by Techspot October 2025: Reverse-engineering ASML isn’t going great for China, engineers allegedly broke the machine trying. A costly mistake.
context: ASML Holding is the Dutch company that develops the world’s most advanced chip manufacturing machines. Many are attempting to replicate ASML’s technology, but, if the rumors coming from China are to be believed, they still have a long way to go
