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TSMC and ASML can remotely disable chip-making equipment if mainland China invades Taiwan
- Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC and Dutch machine supplier ASML have ways of disabling their equipment, sources told Bloomberg
- The companies cannot export their most advanced chip making equipment to Chinese manufacturers as the US seeks to curb its rival’s technological advance
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ASML Holding and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) have ways to disable the world’s most sophisticated chip-making machines in the event that China invades Taiwan, according to people familiar with the matter.
Officials from the US government have privately expressed concerns to both their Dutch and Taiwanese counterparts about what happens if Chinese aggression escalates into an attack on the island responsible for producing the vast majority of the world’s advanced semiconductors, two of the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
ASML reassured officials about its ability to remotely disable the machines when the Dutch government met with the company on the threat, two others said. The Netherlands has run simulations on a possible invasion in order to better assess the risks, they added.
Spokespeople for ASML, TSMC and the Dutch trade ministry declined to comment. Spokespeople for the White House National Security Council, US Department of Defense and US Department of Commerce didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment.
The remote shut-off applies to Netherlands-based ASML’s line of extreme ultraviolet machines, known within the industry as EUVs, for which TSMC is its single biggest client. EUVs harness high-frequency light waves to print the smallest microchip transistors in existence – creating chips that have artificial-intelligence uses as well as more sensitive military applications.
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