tech
Why chips have become the world’s most contested resource
Wednesday, 3 July 1940 saw one of the most unique moments of the Second World War. The British Royal Navy, worried about French ships falling into German hands following their ally’s defeat, sunk the fleet in the port of Mers-el-Kébir, near Oran in Algeria. The British were concerned that the precious resource of the French fleet could have tipped the balance of the war. The British efforts were named Operation Catapult.
TL;DR
- Operation Catapult, the sinking of French ships by the British Royal Navy in 1940, is now a reference for securing vital resources, including computer chips.
- Taiwan's TSMC manufactures over half of the world's chips and more than 90% of advanced chips, making it a focal point in U.S.-China geopolitical competition.
- War games are being conducted by governments and think tanks to simulate scenarios involving chip production facilities, particularly in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
- The U.S. has considered contingency plans for TSMC, including engineer evacuation or military protection, and some advocate for destroying facilities to prevent Chinese control.
- ASML, the sole manufacturer of advanced chipmaking EUV machines, has implemented remote kill switches to prevent adversaries from using the technology.
- Security measures are extensive, including a past accusation of trade secret theft by a Chinese engineer and TSMC's implementation of a secure, single-use data transmission system for its Nanjing facility.