US EditionReuters: How China built its ‘Manhattan Project’ to rival the West in AI chips
China's prototype EUV lithography machine built by ex-ASML engineers is operational but has yet to produce chips, marking progress toward semiconductor independence by 2030, sources say.
- In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists and engineers built an EUV lithography prototype filling nearly a factory floor that is operational and generating extreme ultraviolet light but not yet producing chips.
- Driven by a six-year push to cut foreign reliance, the effort caps a government initiative led by Xi Jinping and overseen by Ding Xuexiang's Central Science and Technology Commission.
- A focused team of around 100 recent university graduates reverse-engineers parts using salvaged components from older ASML machines and export-restricted parts from Nikon and Canon, working under strict secrecy with fake IDs and on-site sleeping.
- China set an official goal to make chips on the prototype by 2028, but insiders say 2030 is more realistic amid export controls and ASML's $845 million judgment.
- With Huawei coordinating supply-chain steps, EUV systems, costing about $250 million, are vital for advanced chips used by Nvidia, AMD, TSMC, Intel, and Samsung, and success could reshape global supply chains.
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44 Articles
With the help of trained Western engineers, China has built a prototype for a chip machine, which up to now only the Dutch company ASML can produce. Chip production is targeted for 2028.
der Standard AT
der Standard DEChina is developing a prototype EUV machine – Beijing is targeting chip production for 2028
Under the leadership of the Tech Group Huawei, ex-employees of the Dutch company ASML were able to copy state-of-the-art EUV machines for the production of microchips.
中國又偷：用逆向工程、假身份等 成功製作EUV原型機 - winandmac.com 視麥媒體
路透社獨家報導，中國科學家成功在深圳高度保安實驗室，製作出極紫外光刻機（EUV）原型機。該原型機已於2025年初完成，現正測試中，佔據近整層廠房空間。消息人士透露，研發團隊由多名前荷蘭半導體巨頭ASML的工程師組成，透過逆向工程複製ASML的EUV技術。 原型機目前可成功產生極紫外光，但尚未製造出可使用的晶片。ASML行政總裁Christophe Fouquet今年4月曾稱，中國需要「很多很多年」才能開發此技術。不過，這部原型機現在真的生產出來，中國達成半導體自主的速度，可能比外界預期快幾年。消息人士指，中國政府設定目標在2028年前用原型機生產出可用晶片，但接近項目的人士認為，較實際的目標是2030年。 這項突破標誌著中國六年來追求半導體自主的成果，是國家主席習近平的首要任務之一。消息人士表示，項目屬國家半導體戰略一部分，由習近平親信領導的中央科技委員會統籌。中國電子巨頭華為在項目中擔當關鍵角色，統籌全國多間企業和國家研究所，牽涉數千名工程師。消息人士形容，這是中國版的「曼克頓計劃」…
China’s Shadow Foundry: The Secret EUV Breakthrough Defying Global Chip Controls
In a fortified complex on the outskirts of Shenzhen, a team of engineers has achieved what U.S. export controls aimed to make impossible: a functioning prototype of an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine, the crown jewel of advanced semiconductor manufacturing. This machine, essential for etching the tiniest features on chips powering AI models, smartphones and military systems, was assembled in early 2025 under conditions of utmost se…
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