posted in Technology
U.S. preparing to force Netherlands to ban ASML from selling to China
nltimes.nl/2026/08/20/us-preparing-force-netherlands-ban-asml-selling-china
Some company in China just duplicated ASMLs shtick, didn’t they ?
Yes and no. It’ll still take many years to get to the same level. ASML has a huge head start
Replying to @qevlarr@lemmy.world
This feels again a bit dismissive. My whole life I have heard “it is okay, China is years away from doing any catch up, unlikely anything happens” and then China proceeds to catch up every. Single. Time.
if China has replicated the technology, then that is fucked for ASML and any headstart they have will not feel like one in 5 years when suddenly China speeds past with cheaper and better tech.
I hope ASML won’t just sit idle and will instead double the effort into making sure the lead they have stays that way.
most recent one I can remember was “Chinese cars are years away from quality and safe cars of western countries who have a massive headstart” recently also been hearing that about memory production.
Replying to @vetskari@sopuli.xyz
I think you’re equally dismissive of the extreme complexity of these machines.
It’s built upon an enormously complicated and precise arrangement of processes and infrastructure that took them decades to iterate towards. Even if you knew a shortcut to the answer and had infinite resources to throw at it, sorting out all the kinks is a monumental effort that can’t be fixed within a few years by throwing more heads and hands at it.
I can’t overstate how complex these machines are. They are arguably one of the most advanced things mankind has ever built.