38C3 - From Silicon to Sovereignty: How Advanced Chips are Redefining Global Dominance
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN users recommend it as an excellent, accessible overview of how modern chips are produced and why EUV matters.
What it is
A 38C3 talk on how advanced chips are made, centered on EUV lithography and the global supply chain behind it. It covers technical challenges from raw materials to finished chips and the geopolitical weight of semiconductors.
Recommended by 5 HN commenters across 5 different months, 2025 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec ta12653421 · 2025-11 · on “US startup Substrate announces chipmaking tool that it says will rival ASML”
LOL, I recommend highly to everyone who thinks a startup can challenge ASML this 1.38min video: [LINK] Its an industrial flight video through a ASML TWIN Exe HighNAV. Here is also a presentation of ~45min at CCC / Germany (in English language) which I highly recommend to watch: [this video] Especially the explanation how they use two milisecond laser shots to first molt the tin and then distribute it symetrically(!!!) with a second shot across the surface. There IS NO chance that this startup will be able to somehow compete, if even Chinese state actors cant do it (yet).
Strong rec KellyCriterion · 2026-02 · on “ASML unveils EUV light source advance that could yield 50% more chips by 2030”
There is an excellent video from German CCC on how chips are produced from their last convention: [this video] I can highly recommend this to everybody who is "somehow in tech or IT"
Strong rec brokenmachine · 2026-04 · on “Making RAM at Home [video]”
This was the one that did it for me: "38C3 - From Silicon to Sovereignty: How Advanced Chips Are Redefining Global Dominance" [this video] Absolutely insane stuff.
Recommends paulirish · 2025-03 · on “The race is on to build the most complex machine”
A recent CCC talk covered the current state of EUV lithography (really well): [this video] This timecode has rendering of the ASML machine in action. (edit: the same one madspindel posted, oops! The rest of the talk def worth a watch)
Recommends mkleczek · 2026-01 · on “BYD Sells 4.6M Vehicles in 2025, Meets Revised Sales Goal”
With current military technology it is not really possible, isn't it? [this video] describes it really well. So the question is more about what part of means of defense you outsource. And what parts of means of defense are outsourced by your enemies. You don't want to base your defense on inferior shipbuilding capabilities, do you?