AI hardware · Layer
Chip foundries and fabrication
The factories that actually print the transistors. Cutting-edge AI chips are made on the most advanced process nodes, and the leading-edge foundry business is extraordinarily concentrated.
Key facts
- TSMC manufactures the overwhelming majority of leading-edge AI accelerators, including for NVIDIA, AMD, Apple, and many others.
- Samsung Foundry and Intel Foundry are the main alternatives pursuing leading-edge nodes, but trail in volume at the cutting edge.
- A single advanced fab costs tens of billions of dollars and takes years to build and ramp.
- Most leading-edge capacity is in Taiwan and South Korea, which is the central geographic fact of AI hardware.
Where it bottlenecks
Leading-edge fabrication is concentrated in a handful of fabs, mostly in Taiwan, making it both a capacity and a geopolitical chokepoint.
Who dominates it
TSMCSamsungIntel
Companies in this layer
Intel
United StatesIntegrated device maker pursuing a leading-edge foundry business and AI accelerators.
TSMC
TaiwanThe leading-edge foundry that manufactures the large majority of advanced AI accelerators and owns CoWoS advanced packaging.