Chris Miller
Microchips are the new oil, driving a high-stakes geopolitical battle where control over atomic-scale manufacturing dictates global military and economic supremacy.
The semiconductor supply chain is incredibly fragile, with advanced logic chip manufacturing concentrated almost entirely in Taiwan and critical lithography equipment monopolized by a single Dutch company.
Precision-guided weapons and artificial intelligence have transformed microchips into the ultimate military offset, meaning the nation with the smartest silicon dictates the balance of global power.
The transition to a fabless business model allowed companies to focus purely on chip design while relying on specialized foundries, creating an interdependent global alliance that accelerated innovation but exported critical manufacturing capabilities offshore.