When the Chips are Down
As the global demand for microprocessors surges, Misha Glenny asks what happens when the worldβs access to this transformative technology is in jeopardy.
Episode 2: When the Chips are Down
The story of chips continues, as the global demand for microprocessors surges Misha Glenny asks what happens when the worldβs access to this transformative technology is in jeopardy.
At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, chip shortages hit industries across the globe, forcing governments to rethink how we all access this critical technology. Misha speaks to Chris Miller, the author of the bestselling book Chip War, about how the USA, China and the European Union are reimagining where and who manufactures our chips.
On an island in the South China Sea, youβll find one of the biggest players in microchips, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company or TSMC. Misha talks to Nigel Inkster, the former director of operations for the British Secret Intelligence Service about how Taiwanese chip making became central to the growing strategic and military rivalry between the USA and China and how the industry in Taiwan came to be known as the βsilicon shield.β
If the way we make microchips is to be reimagined, then central to that new vision will be some of the worldβs most innovative tech companies. Misha delves into the modern scientific miracle of making microprocessors as small as a string of DNA with Ann Kelleher from Intel, Paul Williamson of ARM and ASMLβs Jos Benschop.
With microchips now central to so much of the worldβs tech, Nigel Inkster and the New York Times journalist John Liu guide Misha through the dark arts of corporate espionage and explain how corporations and nations try and obtain access to new technologies by fair means and foul.
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- Thu 29 Feb 2024 16:00ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
- Mon 19 Aug 2024 23:30ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM