AROUND THE WORLD

The journey of one chip

Put the steps of an AI chip's journey in order, from design software to a running data center.

A chip may cross borders many times before it ever runs a model.

STRATEGIC

Why governments care

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Capability

AI chips set how fast a country can train and run advanced models

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Security

AI is used in defence, intelligence and cyber operations

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Economy

AI chips and data centers are now a huge industry

Compute has become a measure of national power.

EXPORT CONTROLS

Limits on chips and tools

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Starting in October 2022, the United States restricted exports of advanced AI chips and chipmaking tools to China, tightened the rules in 2023, and added HBM in December 2024. The Netherlands and Japan restricted some tool sales. Policy keeps shifting: in January 2026 the US moved H200-class chips to case-by-case licensing, while newer chips such as Blackwell stayed blocked. China is investing heavily in its own chips, tools and memory.

These rules change often, so check the latest version before quoting them.

BUILDING AT HOME

New fabs in new places

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The US CHIPS and Science Act (2022) offered about $39 billion in manufacturing incentives. TSMC, Samsung and Intel are building fabs in Arizona, Texas and Ohio; Europe, Japan, Korea and India have their own programs. Leading-edge capacity, however, remains concentrated in Taiwan.

Spreading out manufacturing takes many years and costs more than building where expertise already is.

BOTTLENECKS

Where the chain is thinnest

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EUV scanners One supplier: ASML

Leading-edge logic Mostly TSMC in Taiwan

HBM Three main suppliers

Advanced packaging Capacity grows more slowly than demand

Power Grid connections can take years

Knowing the bottlenecks helps you understand AI chip news.

UNIT 19 STUDY COMPLETE

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Ready for the Fab Challenge?

You've followed an AI chip around the world and seen why governments now treat it as strategic.