Why Computer Chips Are the Weapon in a New Arms Race: QuickTake

The incredibly complex, high-stakes business of making semiconductors has always been a battle of corporate giants. Now it’s also a race among governments. These critical bits of technology — also known as integrated circuits or, more commonly, just chips — may be the tiniest yet most exacting products ever manufactured. And because they’re so difficult and costly to produce, there’s a worldwide reliance on just a handful of companies, a dependence that was brought into stark relief by shortages during the pandemic. Access to chips has also become a geopolitical weapon, with the US ratcheting up curbs on exports to ...