What will ASML do against chip technology thefts?
Asml, the main European semiconductor company and one of the most important in the world, finds itself involved in the America-China challenge. And he says he needs to strengthen defenses against intellectual property theft. All the details
Semiconductor tensions between the United States and China are increasing the risk of intellectual property theft. Not to be caught unprepared, ASML – a Dutch company that produces advanced microchips and Europe's largest technology company, with a market capitalization of 238 billion euros – raised its guard as "never before," he said its chief executive, Peter Wennink, at the Financial Times .
US RESTRICTIONS ON TECHNOLOGY EXPORTS TO CHINA
The United States wants to prevent economic and political rival China from developing advanced technological capabilities that can be used for both industrial and military purposes. To achieve this goal, since last October they have imposed restrictions on exports to the country of semiconductors and machinery containing American intellectual property, and are also working to involve their allies: Japan and the Netherlands above all. Beijing is behind on microchips and has to get supplies from abroad.
MICROCHIPS ARE THE NEW OIL, WENNINK SAYS
“It's like 1973, it's like the oil crisis,” Wennink told the Financial Times , referring to US, European and Japanese efforts to boost each other's microchip manufacturing capabilities. “Oil was always available until it was no longer, and it was a strategic commodity. We get to 2020 and it's the same with chips."
DEFEND AGAINST INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY THEFT
According to Wennink, international isolation is effectively forcing China to develop its own advanced microchip industry, including resorting to illegal practices. In this regard, ASML reported last month that an employee in China stole information about its technologies.
The company has an international monopoly in the manufacture of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment, a process that allows semiconductors to be manufactured on very small scales.
Wennink specified that he has no evidence that the theft was sanctioned by the authorities. He said he believes it will not be easy for Beijing to achieve advanced chipmaking capabilities on its own, and that for this ASML will be "more than ever" careful to protect its know-how and intellectual abilities.
The company will increase spending on cybersecurity and intellectual property protection by "double-digit" percentages each year.
CHINA IS AN IMPORTANT MARKET FOR ASML
ASML has been involved in the trade-tech war between Washington and Beijing since 2019, with the blocking of the sale of one of its machinery for the EUV in China. The latest restrictions further limit its export capabilities, because they target some tools for deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography, a less advanced process than EUV that allows "details to be modeled on microchips," writes the Financial Times .
China is a very important market for ASML, accounting for around 18 percent of global sales alone. Wennink has consequently criticized governments for their protectionist approaches.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/asml-furto-proprieta-intellettuali/ on Wed, 08 Mar 2023 14:51:49 +0000.