Chris Miller
Chip War

I can already see you! Grey color. The shade of grey is that "grey from 11 months of office." I can already see you seeking shelter from the scorching sun under the tiny slice of shadow the umbrella casts on the sand. Curled up like dogs, there you are suffering with a concrete layer of sunscreen, or there you are boldly flirting with sunburn. Sea, salt, wind that bread you like a Milanese cutlet. There's no oil, but the water temperature isn't much lower. This year, instead of the usual Bartezzaghi from "La Settimana," why not read a good book?! And if you’ve already read IlLibro by Debasio and need a recommendation? Well, that's where I come in! Do you want a refreshing, rejuvenating, smooth, and carefree read with pages that fly by in a whirlwind of action, sex, swaggering jokes, laughter, and happy endings?

Well, if that's what you want, get out of here.

CHIP WAR

I know the pages of books shouldn't be folded, but with this "Chip War," I've created an army of dog-ears. The meticulous ones, those who arrange clothes by color and whom I affectionately call "serial killers," would disapprove, sternly shaking their heads. But it's also the author's fault, Chris Miller, because this book has an information density equal to that of lead. I'm writing these sparse and weary lines because it is, nonetheless, a damn interesting and intriguing read: a text that presents facts without rhetoric and beating around the bush. It's the story of how microchips have grown to become the backbone of the global economy.

A development in powerful waves that begins at the end of the '50s when Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit (chip): a piece of semiconductor (silicon) etched with transistors: electrical switches that turning on (1) or off (0) produce the fundamental elements of digital processing. Essentially, we are submerged by an almost infinite number of (0)s and (1)s. In 1965, Gordon Moore declared the principle that every two years, it would be possible to double the computing power of chips by reducing their size to infinitesimal measures, coining the so-called "Moore's Law." Against all odds, thanks to the development of photolithography with ultraviolet light, the principle still holds, and by 2027, the measure of 1 nm should be reached (a single nanometer is equal to one billionth of a meter). The cost of the most advanced photolithography machines exceeds 100 million dollars and is mainly produced by a Dutch company called ASML. The most important company for DRAM (memory chips used for temporary data storage) is South Korean Samsung. The largest chip production company is Taiwanese TSMC founded by guru Morris Chang.

The United States has been the leading country in chip design and production, and this omnipotence lasted practically until the '80s. During that period, Japan, with companies such as Sony, Canon, and Nikon, entered the DRAM sector, becoming the most important country also in the photolithography process. The U.S.A., by fostering South Korean Samsung, managed to curb Japanese ambitions, which in the '80s even aimed to become the world's largest economy. The costs of semiconductor factories have become unbearable, and even immense companies like Intel have had to abandon the idea of managing the entire process, outsourcing the production of their chips to "foundries" like TSMC. At present, the U.S.A. holds the lead in software, design, and plays a crucial role in allied states such as the Netherlands, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, which represent bottlenecks for photolithography, DRAM, and chip production. Control of the sector now also depends on countries geographically close to China, which represents both the largest market that greedy American companies target and the geopolitical antagonist par excellence.

Without dragging it out too long, this book deals with a fascinating and unsettling story. A vertical technological development in which companies have exploded or collapsed in just a few years due to wrong investments, for not understanding which path to choose and which to abandon. This book deals, among others, with the history of IBM, Intel, Nvidia, Smic, TSMC, Huawei, Samsung, Canon, Nikon, GCA, Fairchild, Micron, Microsoft, Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics, ASML, failed projects, billion-dollar frauds, state subsidies, technological thefts, espionage activities, unfair competition, unilateral sanctions with consequent economic retaliations if not military ones, etc...

Now we can also say that we don't give a damn about any of this and that all of this is incredibly complex, boring, and uninteresting. It's summer, and I want to sunbathe. However, whether we like it or not, the world economy is founded on these silicon wafers and increasingly rare metals. Crispy and ready to be dipped in milk with a bit of hazelnut cream on top. Chips are everywhere and if you are streaming a crappy series on your phone or if you're working remotely in a tank top with one hand in your underwear, it's thanks (or due) to these "things."

Economic, political, and military interconnections are intertwined to the point that the dominance of this sector is of fundamental importance and could spark a new crisis in the near future, right in Taiwan. How did we get to this point? Chris Miller tries to outline from an American perspective what mistakes have been made. What role did globalization play, and what are the prospects for the future?

An environmental criticism I feel compelled to make is regarding the book. There's not a single damn page where the terrifying costs of semiconductor extraction are mentioned. The pollution from the extraction of rare earths creates soil incapable of sustaining crops and contaminates water resources. In countries like China, India, and Indonesia, environmental impact assessments are not exactly high on the list, to put it delicately, and Trump is proud of his black thumb. The permanent damage extraction causes to our tiny planet are enormous, with obvious consequences even at our latitudes.

"Chip War" talks exclusively in terms of tech race and the fight for number 1. I recommend it even though I know you'll probably never read it!