The New York Occasions best-selling guide Chip Battle, launched in October 2022, delves into the function of semiconductors in trendy expertise and the geopolitical equations surrounding them. Whereas the guide focuses on the US, China, and Taiwan, India is talked about solely briefly.
Nevertheless, on this post-ChatGPT period, the struggle for chips has intensified, and India’s progress within the chip house over the previous couple of years has possible altered the dynamics. A Chip Battle 2 is maybe within the making.
Acclaimed writer of Chip Battle: The Struggle for the World’s Most Important Know-how, Chris Miller, who’s additionally a professor of worldwide historical past at The Fletcher Faculty at Tufts College, was just lately in Bengaluru to attend the VLSI Design Convention 2025.
Along with interacting with trade specialists, Miller engaged with college students and followers. His radiant and calm manner was evident as he absorbed the vitality and enthusiasm round him.
“Till just lately, there wasn’t lots of funding, particularly on the manufacturing facet of the chip provide chain. That has modified prior to now couple of years, pushed each by the provision chain shifts we’ve seen internationally, in addition to by the Indian authorities’s give attention to this trade,” mentioned Miller in an unique interview with AIM.
The writer, who beforehand targeted on Russian financial and political affairs in his writings, grew to become enthusiastic about semiconductors after recognising a crucial problem within the Russian computing trade: its incapacity to supply environment friendly chips.
Miller strongly believes that India is within the early phases of constructing its chip trade. “Now there’s extra funding than there ever has been in a lot of totally different crops in several components of the nation,” he mentioned.
Chris Miller on the Worldwide Convention on VLSI Design 2025, Bengaluru
The India Chapter
Viksit Bharat 2047, the federal government of India’s imaginative and prescient to rework the nation right into a developed nation by 2047, focuses on India changing into self-reliant. To change into a $30 trillion financial system by 2047, India should develop a chipset worth chain to scale back dependence on imports.
On this context, Miller defined the tedious, decade-long course of that chip corporations bear to ascertain themselves. “If you happen to take a look at trade leaders like Taiwan or Korea, it took them many years to construct their chip trade. Beginning within the Nineteen Seventies, it wasn’t till the 2000s that they grew to become world-class gamers,” he mentioned.
Miller acknowledged India’s progress prior to now couple of years however harassed that it’s a protracted haul. “We should always count on continued improvement, however [realise that] it’s not going to go from an preliminary stage to Taiwan-level in a single day.”
Miller recognized expertise and infrastructure as two key challenges in India’s path to progress within the chip house.
With the nation transferring into chip manufacturing, testing and packaging, the necessity for expertise in all these disciplines turns into essential. On the infrastructure facet, the requirement for various chemical substances, supplies and instruments turns into indispensable.
“All that’s eminently buildable, however it takes time and capability to construct out. I believe we’re seeing that occur proper now—however once more, it may well’t occur in a single day,” he mentioned.
Deal with Design
Whereas manufacturing will take time, Miller believes India ought to proceed to give attention to its design prowess.
“I believe India has a big expertise base in chip design as a result of it’s developed funding from an entire number of worldwide corporations in India. And that’s an enormous asset. That arguably makes India the world’s first or second nation when it comes to chip design expertise, proper subsequent to the US,” he mentioned.
Presently, 20% of the worldwide semiconductor design expertise comes from India, with over 35,000 engineers engaged in chip design. South Korea, as an example, which held a 17.7% share of the worldwide semiconductor market (in 2022), has in depth manufacturing experience however little or no competence in chip design, not like India.
Miller additionally famous that since India is a comparatively new entrant in semiconductor manufacturing, its focus ought to initially be on established applied sciences moderately than cutting-edge processes akin to 2nm or 3nm chips.
He defined that this method aligned with the tendencies in Europe, Israel, and Singapore, the place investments had been concentrated in mature applied sciences.
Individuals usually assume that established applied sciences cease evolving and now not expertise developments. “That’s truly not true. There’s lots of innovation in older course of applied sciences which can be being repurposed for brand spanking new functions. And, with AI, that’s going to speed up since you’re going to make use of sure sorts of use instances, older applied sciences, and construct new capabilities into them,” mentioned Miller.
Taiwan: The Superpower Stays
TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Firm Restricted), the present superpower within the semiconductor manufacturing house, contributes to 99% of the world’s AI accelerators.
“I wouldn’t wager towards TSMC. The experience they’ve constructed, the observe file they’ve in driving expertise ahead, and the belief they’ve constructed with their clients is extraordinary,” mentioned Miller.
TSMC’s clients, together with NVIDIA, AMD, Broadcom, and others, wager their merchandise on its potential to fabricate them. In flip, the relationships it has constructed with these clients kind the core of TSMC’s success.
Whereas these corporations stay crucial enablers, Miller identified that big-tech corporations akin to Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Google, are additionally making in-house chips.
“This can be a pattern that’s going to catch on even additional within the coming years as a result of corporations realise that in the event that they wish to harness AI, specialised silicon designed round their particular workloads will [be essential to] scale back the facility consumption and price of working AI of their programs,” he mulled.
Customisation and price effectivity are the important thing benefits corporations are searching for when constructing in-house chips. Moreover, having in-house alternate options offers them the leverage to barter higher costs with NVIDIA, which in any other case fees a premium for its chips.
Regardless of the efforts of different nations within the chip house and China’s vital progress, Miller believes that Taiwan will proceed to stay on the forefront. “I’d by no means wager towards the Chinese language, however I’d additionally by no means wager towards the Taiwanese, and the Taiwanese are forward proper now,” he concluded.
The publish Chip Battle: The India Chapter appeared first on Analytics India Journal.
