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#GlobalFoundries #AbuDhabi #USA #SemiconductorFab #TechnicalChallenges #LogisticalHurdles #EconomicObstacles #InfrastructureNeeds #SupplyChainIssues #InvestmentCosts #TechExpansion
**Another video from Asianometry on GF.
**Some deep dive: GF was an attempt to make the US not depending anymore on TSMC manufacturing.
At that time,2009, the US already decided to move against China as its economy was rising too fast. The US could not move, and still cannot move, against China because in the middle there is Taiwan, and the US economy without TSMC chip is toasted.
**The plan made by the US - they were in 2009 a lot of officers from the US navy intelligence in Abu Dhabi - was to use Abu Dhabi money, telling them to prepare the end of oil by investing in semiconductors, basically moving from oil to sand... to buy AMD Fabs in Germany, to create GF, acquire Chartered Semiconductor in Singapore, and to build a new Fab in Malta, New York State. The Fab in Malta was to be joined by IBM remaining manufacturing facilities in East Fishkill and Vermont.
**On the paper, the plan looks excellent as it would offer a chip supply chain from US, Europe to Asia to the US and its allies, independent of TSMC and allowing the US to star war against China.
**Unfortunately, the execution of this plan was a complete disaster.
As GF was supposed to replace TSMC, soon all these people learnt that money do not buy you a Foundry business: Dresden Fabs were specialized in SOI technology for AMD CPUs and it took time to revert them back to bulk silicon, Malta Fab ramp up took to long, only Singapore Fabs were real foundry Fabs and were stripped of all there best people to teach foundry know-how to Dresden and Malta.
Facing disaster after disaster, the CEO starting to change every 18 months, until 2018 were all development was stopped.
GF ended up with a 14nm FinFet technology from SEC and a 22nm FDSOI from LETI in France...
As a final straw, the acquisition of IBM Fabs took too long and only happened in 2015. At that time, GF was starting to become a company with some degree of Foundry culture, but bringing IBM people with no Foundry experience reset the clock back to zero and speeded up the crash.
**At that point, it was very clear for the US that GF will not replace TSMC and another solution was needed.
Then the US thought about making Intel a domestic Foundry to replace GF, and the pathetic Pat Gelsinger was brought in the picture and we all know the outcome.
**Now, the plan is to ask TSMC to build Fabs in the US to produce advanced nodes in the US directly.
However, TSMC is dragging its feet, as people realized in Taiwan, that once the US has a domestic Foundry to replace TSMC, Taiwan would be a pawn in the US geopolitical game and destroyed during the next war against China - like Ukraine is actually.
**so, if WW3 has to start, it will be around Taiwan.
Youtube link https://youtu.be/d7USgBB7sAQ?si=T9x3k9DwEnojPk8v