A few days ago, TSMC and NVIDIA celebrated the release of the first Blackwell chip wafers from Fab 21 in Phoenix, Arizona. This is an important milestone, since it means that the USA, thanks to TSMC, is producing cutting-edge semiconductors on home soil. But there’s a “but” – there always is – since the chips produced in the USA have to go back to Taiwan for final assembly. That’s a bit of a bummer.
US-produced Blackwells have to go back to Taiwan!
In broad terms, this is great news… Well, for the Americans, since they host companies capable of producing advanced semiconductors on their soil. In the event of a problem between China and Taiwan (tensions exist between the island and the mainland), the United States is covered… At least in part. Indeed, even if the chips come out of US-based factories, they have to go back to Taiwan for final assembly. While Blackwell GPUs benefit from a 4N (4nm) process, assembly requires a complete technique known as CoWoS (Chip on Wafer on Substrate). Basically, the GPU dies are integrated on a silicon interposer, which also houses the HBM3E memory, to ensure dense interconnection with the substrate. And this complex assembly doesn’t take place in America.
From a geopolitical point of view, it’s a good thing that the chips have to go back to the island for final assembly, since Taiwan retains its geostrategic interest. As it is, if Uncle Sam wants his chips, he has no choice, and so the Taiwanese government retains its weight in the negotiations. When you see how the world turns, it’s always good to have big cards in hand – in this case, the American supply of advanced semiconductors, despite localized production in Arizona.
