Reading up on TSMC

OpenAI unveiled its first custom inference chip, Jalapeño, designed with Broadcom and assisted by OpenAI's own models, claiming better performance-per-watt.

Advanced chip packaging, critical for AI computing power, has increased US reliance on Taiwan, with political decisions affecting development efforts.

Since early 2025, international markets have outperformed the U.S. — emerging economies up 68%, Europe 45%, Japan 44% — driven by the global AI infrastructure supply chain and corporate reforms.

Ajeya Cotra forecasts AI self-sufficiency within 10 years; Timothy B. Lee gives a 50-year median, debating robotics, tacit knowledge, and profit incentives.

Control over semiconductor supply chains, from ASML's lithography to TSMC's manufacturing and NVIDIA's CUDA ecosystem, determines which entities dominate the AI era.

ASML became the sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines through transatlantic cooperation, risky bets, and deep customer partnerships.

AI labs see explosive revenue from coding agents, but infrastructure bottlenecks in memory, energy, and chip manufacturing will constrain growth and raise prices.

The article outlines potential downsides and limitations of AI development, including model stagnation, chip shortages, and cheap models, while also predicting advances like robot models and continual learning.

Apple announces Mac mini production at a new Houston facility, along with AI server manufacturing and a training center, creating thousands of jobs.

AI companies are outbidding Apple for components like chips and memory, squeezing Apple's profit margins and potentially raising consumer prices.

Apple is losing its position as TSMC's largest client to Nvidia, facing capacity competition and price hikes as AI demand drives Nvidia's chip production.