FT Tech Tonic26 Nov 2024

The geopolitics of chips: Taiwan’s ‘Silicon Shield’

The global tech industry depends on Taiwan’s semiconductor chips and many believe the sector plays a key role in the island’s national security, helping stave off an invasion from mainland China. But as relations between China and Taiwan worsen, some countries are taking steps to become less reliant on Taiwanese chips. Already, the US, Germany and Japan have lured Taiwanese semiconductor makers to their own shores. Could that make Taiwan a more vulnerable target for attack?

Presenter James Kynge visits the island and speaks to FT greater China correspondent Kathrin Hille, Taiwan's science and technology minister Cheng-Wen Wu, the president of Taiwan's semiconductor industry association Chih-I Wu, UMC associate vice-president Michael Wang, and Hsin-mei Cheng, writer and producer of 'Zero Day', a TV show about a hypothetical invasion from the mainland.

Free links to read more on this topic:

US and Taiwan seek to strengthen drone supply chain to keep out China

Taiwan’s new leader faces China threat and voters left behind by chip boom

Taiwan on the faultline

Presented by James Kynge. Edwin Lane is the senior producer. The producer is Josh Gabert-Doyon. Executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Sound design by Sam Giovinco, with original music from Metaphor Music. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley. Special thanks to Kathrin Hille.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(261)

Rewiring sport: Hi-tech cheating

At the Enhanced Games in Las Vegas earlier this year, athletes used performance-enhancing drugs and banned equipment in an attempt to break world records. At the same time, companies such as Adidas ar...

15 Jul 29min

Rewiring sport: Is tech ruining sports fandom?

Video-assistant refereeing (VAR) has proved to be one of the most controversial pieces of technology ever introduced in sports. But with the rise of everything from broadcasting gimmicks to data-drive...

8 Jul 25min

Rewiring sport: How technology is helping athletes break barriers

For decades, sportspeople have been getting fitter, faster and reaching ever-higher levels of performance. But as the margin between winning and losing shrinks, athletes are turning to technology to m...

1 Jul 26min

Coming soon: Rewiring sport

Are technological advances in sport leaving athletes, fans and competition itself better off? Or are they undermining the spirit of sport? With the World Cup underway, the FT’s sports editor Josh Nobl...

24 Jun 57s

AI Labs: Zuckerberg’s $100bn gamble

Mark Zuckerberg created the world’s biggest social media company in Facebook, before deciding the future lay in the metaverse. Now he’s spending hundreds of billions of dollars to transform Meta again...

3 Jun 28min

AI Labs: Elon Musk wants AI in space

Elon Musk’s xAI is lagging behind the likes of OpenAI and Google DeepMind in the AI race. Will a giant IPO of SpaceX, Musk’s rocket company, change all that? Murad Ahmed speaks to FT technology corres...

27 Mai 24min

AI Labs: Sam Altman may make or break OpenAI

OpenAI sparked the generative AI boom with the release of ChatGPT. But along the way its chief executive Sam Altman has ruffled plenty of feathers. Colleagues have left to set up rival labs, co-founde...

20 Mai 28min

AI Labs: Google DeepMind plans its comeback

In the latest AI boom Google has been playing catch-up with the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic. But with stacks of cash, its own AI chips and some of the best AI talent in the world, is Google about to...

13 Mai 29min