Chip War

The micro-chip plays a major role in almost evey aspect of modern life -- warfare, cars, phones, etc. The on-going technical and political tug-of-war around this technology is critical to understanding today's world.

Extraordinary book that has tapped into the most important hardware of the AI revolution and will be foundational in the emerging Age of Augmented Humanity. This book provides the detail that allows the reader to understand the history and current state of global semiconductor design and the manufacturing community.

It also lays out in exquisite detail the importance of the technology in the future and how it needs to be protected. In no small measure, the book was instrumental in highlighting the importance of semiconductors in todays’ digital world. 

As is now clear from the meteoric rise of Nvidia, the global semiconductor industry is utterly central to our economic and social future. It’s a subject that I thought I knew a bit about but really didn’t!

I found Chris’ narrative compelling and almost read the book like a thriller! There really is going to be a global competition for mastery of technology, and I hope that our politicians and corporate strategists understand that, too. 

Wars used to be fought with steel. Today, they are fighting with Silicon. Chris Miller writes powerfully about this shift, the inventors, inventions, and supply chains that made this possible, and how precarious global chip supplies are today, with tensions between China and the U.S. rising. 

Miller takes us to Taiwan, where most of the advanced chips in the world are manufactured, as well as inside debates in Washington about what to do about China’s ability to hold hostage TSMC chip foundries that make the material underpinnings to the modern world.  A must-read!

This was my third favorite book. It provides an accurate and concise history of the semiconductor industry and its role in modern geopolitics. Mr. Miller has treated a highly complex topic with precision yet rendered it understandable to the lay reader.

His book helps the reader understand the role of the various competitors, both companies and countries and why the competition between them matters. It would be difficult to understand the world today without knowing what this author tells us. 

Whoever controls the computer chips controls the world?

Not quite, but computer chips are a critical ingredient in making the powerful AI systems that dominate the headlines, and there is a high-stakes global competition for the fastest and newest chips.

These chips are so difficult to design and make, yet so important, that the U.S. is overtly restricting China’s access through export controls, and China is not yet able to build its own.

Miller provides an excellent overview of the history and development of computer chips. The book provides detailed information about the key players and different countries involved, as… show more.

Chris Miller paints a vivid picture of the critical technology that we all need – computer chips. Virtually everything – from missiles to microwaves, smartphones to the stock market – runs on semiconductors. And yet the US has been losing its leadership position as China has started to develop and produce the most sophisticated chips. 

Through compelling stories, Miller explains why we need the most advanced chips and how we should develop the necessary technology to continue our preeminent role in the world. Our very quality of life and national security depend on those tiny chips.

In recent years, the prowess to design and produce computer chips became a geo-political weapon, in the same league of fossil oil and natural gas. Yet unlike oil and gas, the core natural resource necessary for building chips is human capital.

That’s how a small country like Taiwan became not only the main player in the world’s chip industry, but also the hotspot of the escalating conflict between the USA and China. In Chip War, Chris Miller provides a panoramic view of this world-encompassing paradigm shift.

Miller describes the crucial role that chips play in modern warfare, the essential ingredients… show more.

Chip War shows better than any book I have ever read just how integrated our world is and how dependent we are on other countries, especially in high-end technology.

Without chips from Taiwan or lithography from The Netherlands, we would be unable to operate our smartphones or computers. Chris Miller makes a persuasive case for why we must defend Taiwan’s independence while we build chip manufacturing in the US.