China’s secret “Manhattan Project” builds prototype EUV lithography machine
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China just pushed the semiconductor fight into a new chapter. Inside a sealed compound in Shenzhen, scientists built a prototype EUV lithography machine that Washington has tried to block for years. The machine was finished in early 2025, takes up almost an entire factory floor, and is now in testing. It already generates extreme ultraviolet light, the key part of advanced chipmaking, though it has not produced working chips yet. The whole project was driven by former ASML engineers who were recruited to reverse-engineer the Dutch company’s most restricted system, according to people who know the details. Beams from EUV machines carve circuits far thinner than a strand of hair. Whoever makes these machines controls the top tier of computing power; AI, smartphones, drones, missiles, all of it. ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said China would need “many, many years” before it built an EUV system, but people working on the project said the prototype shows that China is much closer to semiconductor independence than many expected. They also said heavy limits on optics and high-precision parts still hold China back. But they confirmed that older ASML components on secondary markets helped the country build this first domestic machine. One person said the government wants working chips by 2028, but the realistic date is 2030. China pushes recruitment and secrecy across the country This prototype is the result of a six-year national plan ordered by Xi Jinping, who made semiconductor self-sufficiency a top priority. The Shenzhen project stayed secret even as China talked publicly about chip goals. State media named Ding Xuexiang as the official in charge of the broader semiconductor strategy. People familiar with the work compared the entire effort to “China’s Manhattan Project.” Huawei stepped into a central role. The company connected state institutes, private firms, and thousands of…
Filed under: News - @ December 17, 2025 7:24 pm