NEWS & EVENTS

Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology

On February 23, Chris Miller, Professor of International History at Tufts University and author of “Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology,” joined us to discuss his book, as well as the geopolitical history of the semiconductor industry more broadly.

In his talk, Professor Miller began with an explanation of Moore’s Law, the idea that the amount of transistors in a semiconductor chip doubles every two years. He also discussed the financial and technological challenges faced by governments in manufacturing internationally competitive chips. Professor Miller described the military significance of advanced chip technology, and how this technology is used in modern warfare, which relies heavily on long-range precision strike capabilities.

Professor Miller believes that the US has spent too much time developing software and data, taking for granted the necessary improvements in computing power. It is for this reason, he says, that the bulk of chip manufacturing has moved to East Asian countries like Taiwan and South Korea. Professor Miller concluded that US assessments of its own technological capabilities have been mistaken for years, well before the Biden Administration passed the CHIPS Act in August 2022.