Intel, chips and America’s future

By now, we’re all familiar with the crisis that has faced America’s chip manufacturing industry. Intel remains the last bastion of homegrown chips (if we exempt new developments from TSMC and Samsung). Yet, Intel’s stock has been bludgeoned, down more than 55% over the past five years as Nvidia skyrocketed about 1,475% in the same period. What would it take to rebuild America’s chip capacity? Do we have a chance to build our own TSMC?

That’s the question that Kyle Harrison has been asking. He’s a general partner at Contrary Capital, and alongside his co-author Maxx Yung, the two wrote a new blockbuster report called, “Building an American TSMC.” It’s a magisterial look at the accidental history, enervating present and intricate future of semiconductor fabrication in the United States, and what it would really take to maintain and grow this critical capability.

Kyle and host Danny Crichton talk about Intel’s recent and historical woes, how to avoid another massive manufacturing failure like General Electric and Boeing, the complex barriers to entry in the semis market, and finally, why ecosystem development particularly around specialized labor is so crucial to protect.