Ask HN: Could Europe build their own AI infrastructure?

4 points by ArtTimeInvestor 14 hours ago | 9 comments

I wonder how Europe is set up for the coming AI race around the world.

What would happen if Europe were to be cut off from American supply of GPUs?

As far as I know, Europe has control over one company that is involved in the supply chain to build AI hardware: ASML. They build the lithography equipment which is needed to produce the wafers which are needed to produce the processors.

Are there companies around the world who can/could build this type of lithography equipment?

If Europe loses this piece of control over the AI supply chain, would Europe then be at the mercy of the USA for AI hardware supply? How long would it take for Europe to produce their own GPUs?

aristofun 4 hours ago | next |

No. There is no Europe as a single entity with its own individual agency. Even if only for that reason - the answer is "no".

On top of that European governments got very good at banning and regulating things, not so much at innovating or creating a good climate for innovators and entrepreneurs.

belter 13 hours ago | prev | next |

> What would happen if Europe were to be cut off from American supply of GPUs?

What would happen if America would be cut off of EU supply of ASML machines?

ArtTimeInvestor 11 hours ago | root | parent |

That is the question I wanted to raise with "Are there companies around the world who can/could build this type of lithography equipment?".

How hard would it for the rest of the world to build this type of lithography equipment?

belter 9 hours ago | root | parent |

ASML? Some would say 10 to 15 years at least. But ASML had/has many Chinese and US employees so both countries probably have copies of the secret sauce. By what I heard their vetting of employees is minimal...

null_investor 11 hours ago | prev | next |

It doesn't matter.

US companies will want to have consumers and Europe has them, so they would like to offer their services in the EU.

AI hardware is also produced in China. Americans don't want to talk about it, but Huawei has good inference hardware and software.

ArtTimeInvestor 11 hours ago | root | parent | 

    US companies will want to have consumers
Consumers who can pay. If Europe falls behind and does not have the capability to produce goods or services that are in demand in the US and China, the European consumers might want those US/China products and services, but they can't pay them.

Look at the German automotive industry. Once they produced something the world wanted. Will they still do that in the age of electric autonomy?

Except for ASML's technology, which competitive advantage does the European industry have to stay relevant in international trade?

shoo 12 hours ago | prev | next |

if you're referring to Nvidia's GPUs - Nvidia doesn't have its own manufacturing capability, they outsource the semiconductor manufacturing to TSMC. Arguably they're better described as Taiwanese GPUs than American GPUs.

ArtTimeInvestor 11 hours ago | root | parent |

Only the chips, right? I guess the rest of the GPU is made elsewhere?

As for the chips - TSMC started to also make these in the USA last year.

So the USA have brought this part of the manufacturing process inhouse already.