source: techcrunch ai: the us says asml’s top chip tool may be in china. asml says it isn’t
level: business
us commerce secretary howard lutnick has told asml executives he is concerned one of the company's extreme ultraviolet lithography machines may be in china. these euv systems are the only tools that can print the most advanced semiconductor patterns. export controls have barred asml from selling euv to china since the first trump administration. senior officials say they have evidence of euv-related components and transport equipment shipped to china, but they have not shown it to asml or bloomberg. asml states no euv machine has ever been in china.
asml ceo christophe fouquet said the company tracks every machine it ships. they are either in active use with monitored customers or dismantled and returned. asml built an internal firewall separating employees who access euv technology from those who cannot, and china-based staff are excluded by design. fouquet argued that reverse-engineering an euv machine is nearly impossible without ever having one. asml sells older deep ultraviolet tools to china, which fouquet described as a protective measure to maintain a generational gap and avoid creating a future competitor.
the commerce department under lutnick agreed to invest up to $150 million in xlight, a startup developing next-generation light-source technology. xlight's ceo sees the company as a future partner to asml, not a rival. fouquet was unconvinced asml needs xlight's technology. separately, peter thiel has backed substrate, a startup pursuing its own euv-rival technology. a bipartisan bill in congress could ban all asml deep ultraviolet shipments to china, which account for about 20% of expected 2026 revenue. the trump administration has not taken a position on the bill.
why it matters: if an euv machine reached china, it would be a major breach of export controls designed to keep advanced ai chipmaking capability out of china's military and industrial base.
source: techcrunch ai: the us says asml’s top chip tool may be in china. asml says it isn’t