Something that this brings up is the idea that we are going to "bring manufacturing back" to the USA. I don't think we will do that, and I certainly don't think this is a sign that we will do that.<p>Bringing chip fabs back is good. It is a strategic move that ensures we have control over chip security for critical devices. But it does not follow that bringing chip fabs back means that all manufacturing is coming back.<p>My local hacker space is struggling to keep its doors open. All my local electronics shops (in the Bay Area!) have closed down. The small independent hardware stores are closing down too. People who actually want to build things are having a harder and harder time getting it done. Everything is owned by private equity firms who raise the price so high that people not already making a profit are getting squeezed out, which removes space for learning, prototyping, and risk taking.<p>Compare all this to Shenzhen where you can get everything you need fabricated in a small area. It is important to keep in mind that Shenzhen was built relatively quickly, so perhaps we could do that here. But will we? I admit I only know the basics of the creation of Shenzhen but it sounds like strong political will to create it was an important part.<p>Do we have strong political will to create something like that here? I honestly don't think we do. I am concerned that our political system is so overrun with corruption, infighting, finger pointing, and empty gestures meant to get likes on Twitter that the work needed to actually make manufacturing happen here would never get done.
This overview includes little data from mainland China probably because that data is not readily available. However it looks like, from orders at western equipment firms, that the Chinese fab expansion may be the largest of any country.<p>So strangely enough. The Chinese are set to achieve their goal of being 70% self-sufficient in semiconductors by 2025 as a consequence of over-investment in lower-end manufacturing and US bans on high-end imports.
FYI onshoring fabs back to the US is part of a long term strategic plan to counter China called The Clean Network / The "5G trifecta" — TSMC's new fab in Arizona will be the largest onshoring in American history.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clean_Network#The_%225G_trifecta%22" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clean_Network#The_%225G_tr...</a>
The hand wavey conflation of quantum computing with other high growth areas with practical applications, like AI on GPU, is a peeve of mine. The lab they reference is doing quantum simulation on GPU in addition to building quantum computing. But it’s experimental stuff, versus the insatiable appetite right now for cloud GPU compute capacity and the ridiculous margins NVidia is enjoying in the data center.
Taiwan won't be independent much longer. Xi literally told Biden this? China has only a few months to get this going, but will have a huge amount of consequences for doing so.<p>TSMC is rushing to build in europe and usa.<p>Looks like Russia is going to fail at taking Odessa and take control of one of the biggest sources of neon for chip fabs. China will require Australia in the near future. But will taiwan's invasion change this? Australia already knows about this relationship.<p>The challenge here is that there's nothing that will stop this inevitability. China hasn't seemingly figured out they are in a huge trap of their own making. Their inability to pull out of this trap means India will become the next asian super power. The China-India war will have to go hot.<p>Then again the exodus of Punjabs leaving this war is at world war levels of immigration.