ASML Holdings NV (NASDAQ:ASML) CEO Christophe Fouquet addressed the company’s position on export controls and dispelled rumors about reverse-engineering of their machines in China.
Fouquet, speaking to Tech Crunch on Tuesday, before the Milken Institute Global Conference, said that he is aligned with Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang‘s perspective that companies should sell globally while retaining the latest technology for home. He stated that ASML also follows a similar strategy by maintaining a generation gap in its sales.
“I think he’s totally right — and I think this is what Nvidia has done — is that you can keep a technological advantage by maintaining a generation gap in what you sell,” Fouquet said. The CEO added that Nvidia is operating with about an eight-generation gap, while ASML is dealing with just two or three.
ASML currently exports tools to China that were first launched in 2015, adhering to export controls. Fouquet stressed the importance of finding a balance between “not doing business” at all and giving a significant competitive edge to countries where the latest products are not sold.
ASML Denies EUV Access To China
On the subject of reverse-engineering rumors of ASML’s machines in China, Fouquet assured that no Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) machine has been shipped to China. The company keeps track of all shipped tools, and any unused ones are returned. He emphasized that due to export restrictions, no one in China is trained on ASML’s EUV technology.
“It’s hard for people to accept that because access to this technology is so important,” the CEO said.
ASML is the sole supplier of EUV lithography machines, which are critical for building advanced semiconductors used in AI, 5G, and high-performance computing.
Chinese semiconductor leaders, meanwhile, are urging a coordinated national push to build a domestic alternative to ASML’s EUV lithography systems, warning that the country’s chip industry is too fragmented and underpowered. They highlight U.S. restrictions on key areas such as EDA tools, silicon wafers, and especially EUV equipment, as major barriers slowing China’s progress.
US Intensifies Chinese Curb
Fouquet’s remarks come on the heels of the report, earlier this week, that Nvidia’s B300 servers were selling for about $1 million in China, compared to $550,000 in the U.S., as Washington’s export restrictions and a renewed crackdown on chip smuggling squeezed the black-market supply.
Meanwhile, Futurum CEO Daniel Newman backed the ‘Pro-National Security’ Nvidia China Strategy, arguing that selling older GPUs could protect America’s AI edge. He suggested that allowing China to purchase less advanced U.S. chips could decrease the likelihood of Beijing developing more sophisticated domestic alternatives that might eventually surpass American technology.
In early April, a bipartisan group introduced the MATCH Act to tighten limits on China’s access to semiconductor equipment, arguing that gaps remain because U.S. allies haven’t fully aligned with American export controls, allowing China to keep exploiting those weaknesses.
ASML Price Action: Over the past month, ASML has gained about 10.65%, according to Benzinga Pro, and is up roughly 24% year-to-date.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via Shutterstock
Recent Comments