// chip production

Source: Works in Progress

ASML's monopoly on extreme ultraviolet lithography machines means it controls the technological bottleneck for every advanced semiconductor in existence—from AI chips to smartphone processors to military systems. The company's dominance wasn't inevitable; it required decades of incremental engineering, massive R&D investment that no competitor could match, and deliberate choices by governments and customers to consolidate around its technology. This concentration creates a single point of failure for global computing infrastructure, making ASML's supply chain vulnerabilities a national security concern that shapes geopolitical power dynamics between the U.S., Europe, and China.