Recently Read: "Chip War" by Chris Miller

I bought Chip War during the closing sales of Singapore's Times Bookstore back in 2023/2024. Though the AI wave was just beginning to capture public attention, I didn't buy it for the hype—I was simply drawn in by its striking cover and a compelling synopsis.

Two years later, my only regret is not reading it sooner. Miller delivers a compelling account of the history of semiconductors, charting the rise and fall of corporate empires that shaped today's monopolies and oligopolies, while providing a brilliant overview of the geopolitical friction undergirding our future.

What I liked

At a tight 350 pages, it proved to be an absorbing read over a few quiet evenings. Miller instills a profound appreciation for the fragile supply chains anchoring modern civilisation. It is staggering to realise that a single company, ASML, holds an absolute monopoly on the lithography equipment critical to cutting-edge manufacturing. Equally eye-opening was discovering that my tiny island home of Singapore has been a competitor in this global arena since its infancy, even if anchored primarily in the mature, lower-end nodes. Had I picked up this book immediately after purchase, I would have had far more conviction—and baseline knowledge—to navigate the current AI bull market.

I particularly enjoyed Miller’s analysis of how precise manufacturing tolerances can drastically shift the balance of power between Washington, Beijing, and Moscow. While high school history classes frequently attribute the collapse of the USSR to broader economic stagnation, the Soviet failure to secure high-yield semiconductor fabrication lines is rarely highlighted as a central catalyst for losing the Cold War.

Today, that technological gap is closing rapidly as China mounts its own challenge to US dominance. While Beijing's progress faces severe headwinds—namely its reliance on foreign choking points like Taiwan and South Korea, alongside a historical deficit in foundational Silicon Valley talent—its trajectory is formidable. Given China's current dominance in electric vehicles, renewable energy, and commercial infrastructure, paired with an explosion of highly capable, cost-effective domestic AI models, the pace of Chinese hardware innovation is poised to accelerate.

Conclusion

While the book lacks singular, poetic quotes to pull out, its value lies in its holistic narrative. I highly recommend Chip War to anyone looking past the surface-level panic of "AI taking our jobs" to understand the raw, technological forces driving the next century.