INSIDE CHINA'S 'MANHATTAN PROJECT' TO RIVAL THE WEST IN AI CHIPS

Summary from the TLDR AI newsletter

Chinese scientists have built a working prototype of an EUV lithography machine, the $250 million tool that only ASML knows how to make and which the US has blocked from being sold to China since 2018. A team of former ASML engineers reverse-engineered the machines in a high-security Shenzhen lab, with recruits given fake IDs and signing bonuses up to $700,000. The prototype hasn't yet produced working chips, but sources expect it will by 2028-2030.