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I don’t have any mind for policy. Law just seems like very confusing hyper-spaghetti code. But, I really hope the CHIPS act is well-targeted. We don’t need In
by bee_rider 2y ago
I don’t have any mind for policy. Law just seems like very confusing hyper-spaghetti code.
But, I really hope the CHIPS act is well-targeted.
We don’t need Intel, the chip designers, anymore. I mean, their chips are fine basically, or maybe they aren’t so great, whatever, they can still sell them, I don’t care.
But we absolutely and desperately need a chip foundry company and if IFS can be that, they deserve a chance (and are probably the best bet we’ve got, unless somebody can convince TSMC to send us some folks, but that seems pretty unlikely).
- AtlasBarfed 2y agoIntel has 10 wafer fabs worldwide. Yes, not all of them are at maximally modern nodes... But here's an idea. Let's spin off Intel's fabs not into one company, but two. Get a little anti-trust and market competition to go with the CHIPS investment. Intel won't like it, but make the CHIPS funding dependent on it. Yes I know, no way that gets out of congress intact.
- bee_rider 2y agoIt would be a fascinating experiment if we could try it safely somehow. Break up Amazon, Intel, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon and watch their various parts try and figure out how to make money. A world in which I can buy a Graviton chip fabbed in the US by IFS, and then consider installing Windows on it (nah, but it would be nice to have the option) would be really neat.
- osnium123 2y agoI don’t think the economics can support running two different development teams in the US. The latest EUV tools cost $400M for example.
- onepointsixC 2y agoWho will be their customers? Intel’s woes are all because their fabs fell behind, if they were fabless they would just go to TSMC. Global foundries could keep up and had to give up on leading edge. Without Intel as their own customers Intel fabs will die.
- catproc 2y agoLaw is not code, and any comparisons are mostly incorrect, and displays a misunderstanding of legal philosophy.
- bee_rider 2y agoBut if you profess enough ignorance of law, you can usually dodge conversations about legal philosophy.
- osnium123 2y agoTSMC is spending $65B in Arizona so the US at least gets a big fab out of it.
- onepointsixC 2y agoIt’s trailing edge. TSMC is doing it to soak up subsidies, deny it to others and avoid stick policy solutions. But they will never put leading edge outside of Taiwan, and should they become a true monopoly with Intel and Samsung throwing in the towels then it will become very unpleasant.