Microchips Are The New Oil.
The extraordinary inventions by exceptional minds such as Jack Kilby, John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, Mohamed Atalla, Dawon Kahng, Charlie Sporck, Andras Grof, Andy Groove, Bob Noyce, Morris Chang, Pat Haggerty, Gordon Moore, Carver Mead, and many others have fundamentally shaped the world’s reliance on semiconductors. Chris Miller’s Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology delves into the intricate details of how integrated chips did not only connect electronic components in innovative ways but also how chips knit together nations in a network, with the United States at its center.
In Chip War, readers embark on a journey through the creation of Silicon Valley and the evolution of computing. The book meticulously outlines how U.S. companies, notably Fairchild and Texas Instruments, entered the mid-1960s to transform chips into a mass-market commodity. Post World War II, defense officials in Washington adopted a policy that favored a strong Japan over a weak Japan, facilitating technology transfers throughout the 1960s. Japan’s rapid technological progress had caught everyone by surprise.
As elucidated in Chip War, Fairchild emerged as the first semiconductor firm to offshore assembly in Asia, where a vast population of peasant farmers were looking for factory jobs. Taiwan’s foreign policy strategically incorporated semiconductor plant attraction to foster more economic ties with the United States and also to ensure a protective buffer against Beijing’s influence. In 1968, Texas Instrument’s board of directors approved the construction of a new facility in Taiwan. Since then, Taiwan has become an irreplaceable partner to Silicon Valley. A similar strategy unfolded in Singapore in 1974, echoing the policy of hosting U.S. semiconductor plants to fortify political stability.
Chip War includes chapters on how the emergence of new MBA and Ph.D. CEOs taking over America’s semiconductor firms in the 2000s and 2010s had influenced the transfer of technology. Transitioning into the current era, the book sheds light on China’s leadership recognizing their vulnerability reliant on foreign chipmakers and setting out a plan to rework the world’s chip industry. The book speculates the potential impact on U.S. foreign policy should China choose to exert greater control over Taiwan. As Charlie Sporck, known for his successful role in the history of Silicon Valley remarked: We are in nowheresville without semiconductors.
Chip War indeed is a significant book at the intersection of geopolitics and semiconductor technology. Chris Miller’s meticulous research provides readers with invaluable insights into Intel, Micron Technology, ASML, Huawei, AMD, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Apple, among others. Highly recommended for those seeking a comprehensive understanding of how microchips are the new oil.
