America’s fantasy of home-grown chipmaking
To remain the world’s foremost technological power, the country needs its friends
How low mighty Intel has fallen. Half a century ago the American chipmaker was a byword for the cutting edge; it went on to dominate the market for personal-computer chips and in 2000 briefly became the world’s second-most-valuable company. Yet these days Intel, with a market capitalisation of $100bn, is not even the 15th-most-valuable chip firm, and supplies practically none of the advanced chips used for artificial intelligence (AI). Once an icon of America’s technological and commercial prowess, it has lately been a target for subsidies and protection. As we published this, President Donald Trump was even mulling quasi-nationalisation.
Already have an account?Log in
Continue with a free trial
Get full access to our independent journalism for free
Explore more
Handpicked stories, in your inbox
A daily newsletter with the best of our journalism
Don’t forget the downsides of China’s innovation push
China’s industrial policy attracts fans abroad, critics at home
France’s government is on the brink of collapse, again
Emmanuel Macron looks likely to lose another prime minister over an attempt to curb public debt
Brazil offers America a lesson in democratic maturity
It is a test case for how countries recover from a populist fever
Humiliation, vindication—and a giant test for India
Trump has triggered a trade and defence crisis: how should Modi respond?
How much danger is America’s central bank in?
Whether Lisa Cook stays or goes, important norms have been broken
Britain leads the world in a new global business—a criminal one
What to do about its rampant steal-and-export industry
