When we think about technology, we think of social media, search engines, apps on our phone; but undergirding all of this are chips.”
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What if the world's most critical technology isn't software, but the tiny pieces of silicon that power it? In an age where chips are everywhere, from smartphones to coffee makers, their manufacturing complexity might surprise you. It's harder to make a modern semiconductor than a nuclear weapon.
Inside Taiwan's cutting-edge fabrication plants, machines worth $350 million each orchestrate an atomic ballet. These marvels of engineering use the flattest mirrors ever made and lasers that create temperatures 40 times hotter than the sun's surface – all to carve transistors smaller than a coronavirus.
From Silicon Valley to Taiwan, from the Netherlands to Japan, making modern chips is a global dance of unprecedented complexity. Each processor requires ultra-purified materials, billion-dollar machines, and a supply chain spanning multiple continents. But this intricate network faces its greatest challenge yet.
As artificial intelligence reshapes our world, the demand for advanced chips is skyrocketing. Tech giants are pouring billions into new semiconductor designs, while startups race to create specialized AI chips that could make artificial intelligence as accessible as a Google search. Join us as we explore how these tiny silicon marvels are shaping humanity's future.
Timestamps:
0:00: The Freethink Interview: Chris Miller
0:39: A single factory in Taiwan
2:31: The first transistor
3:31: The first chip
4:50: Moore’s Law
7:40: A global industry
10:01: The most important company in the world
12:08: Why chips are central to US and China
13:45: AI and chips
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