Neil Hacker

Counting carbon at

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

I've been spending the last few weeks researching carbon removal, specifically around how we might think about its costs and how we might fund it given its unique mixture of being highly urgent and very nascent. I've put most of my current thinking here https://t.co/DyVAbz6TS5

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

@Afinetheorem @WorksInProgMag Thanks Kevin glad you enjoyed it. I have to say of all the bits of the story I think EUV LLC is still one of the most interesting to me. I think it remains one of the largest public private partnerships with the DOE to this day.

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

@KhalebIO Thanks. fwiw I focused on the tech because while they do have some interesting business practices the monopoly on EUV in my view is primarily due to tech complexity and is their real moat.

Some more stuff on their business in the sources I read here. https://t.co/WG0c1cYW2M

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

Put together a list of sources that were useful when learning about ASML/EUV. The list includes some books, annual reports, podcasts, and lots of articles.

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

If anyone wants to read more about ASML/EUV themselves, I've put together a list of sources I looked at while writing this piece. https://t.co/WG0c1cYW2M

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

If anyone wants to read more about ASML/EUV themselves, I've put together a list of sources I looked at while writing this piece. https://t.co/WG0c1cYW2M

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

ASML is one of the most impressive companies today and is only getting more important. I wrote a piece in the new issue of @WorksInProgMag about how they got their monopoly on the world's most complex machine.

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

If you want to read more, you can find the full piece here https://t.co/baX3lW84BQ

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

https://t.co/baX3lW7wMi

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

First time on the front page of hacker news - I'm sure this will be a peaceful and idyllic experience.

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

@DoubleEph Thanks glad you enjoyed the piece.

[Techmeme @Techmeme]

A deep dive into how ASML became a chokepoint for making cutting-edge chips by betting on EUV, close collaboration with TSMC and the US government, and more (@_neilhacker / Works in Progress)

(Visit Techmeme dot com for the link and full context!)

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

@lugaricano Thanks, very glad you enjoyed the piece. I saw someone recommended Focus, but ASML's architects is the other main book on them (mostly focused on the early years) https://t.co/9eNLYdtka9

[Sam Bowman @s8mb]

Europe has one of the most essential and irreplaceable companies in the global AI supply chain: ASML, which produces the machines that TSMC uses to make its chips.

These machines are roughly the size of double-decker buses. To ship one requires 40 freight containers, three cargo planes, and 20 trucks. They are the world’s most complex objects. Each contains over one hundred thousand components, all of which have to be perfectly calibrated for the machine to produce light consistently at the right wavelength.

ASML was once seen as an also-ran compared to its arch-rivals Nikon and Canon. It succeeded thanks to involvement in a US program to develop extreme ultraviolet lithography, which only happened because the Americans were so worried about losing to Japan. ASML also outsourced much of its R&D instead of trying to do it all in house, which allowed it to spread its bets across many different companies.

Today, the entire global AI industry depends on ASML. Understanding its success is crucial to understanding Europe's position in AI today, and how it can leverage that to avoid being left behind tomorrow.

https://t.co/zURr1xlgMx

[Neil Hacker @_neilhacker]

@Dominic2306 Thanks @Dominic2306 glad you liked the piece

[Works in Progress @WorksInProgMag]

Issue 23 of Works in Progress is out now! With features on:

🪞 ASML, Europe's AI juggernaut.
🧷 Engineering the disposable diaper.
🛕 Modern Hindu temples, some of the world's most inspiring architecture.
🚌 The invention and reinvention of buses.

https://t.co/ZtEhxJpggk

Plus:

👶 Why the best time to freeze your eggs is now
🚄 How America can have Japanese-tier railways
☢️ How Britain forgot to build cheap nuclear power

And more!

https://t.co/ZtEhxJpggk