The New York Times bestselling book, The Chip Wars, released in October 2022, delves into the role of semiconductors in modern technology and the geopolitical equations surrounding them. The book focuses on the United States, China, and Taiwan, with only a passing mention of India.
But in this post-ChatGPT era, the war over chips is heating up, and India’s advances in the chip space in recent years are likely changing the dynamics. Chip War 2 is probably in the works.
Chris Miller, renowned author of Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology and professor of international history at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, was recently in Bangalore to attend the VLSI Design Conference 2025. Ta.
In addition to interacting with industry professionals, Mr. Miller also engaged with students and fans. His radiant and calm demeanor was evident as he absorbed the energy and enthusiasm of those around him.
“Until recently, there hasn’t been much investment, particularly in the manufacturing side of the chip supply chain. This situation has changed over the past few years, both due to supply chain changes we’ve seen internationally and the Indian government’s focus on the industry. It’s changed over the years,” Miller said in an exclusive interview with AIM.
The author previously focused on the economic and political situation in Russia, but became interested in semiconductors after noticing a significant challenge in the Russian computing industry: the inability to produce efficient chips. I started having it.
Miller strongly believes that India is in the early stages of building a chip industry. “Right now, we’re seeing more investment than ever before in different factories across the country,” he said.
Chris Miller attends VLSI Design International Conference 2025 in Bangalore
Indian branch
Viksit Bharat 2047 is the government of India’s vision to transform the country into a developed country by 2047 and focuses on making India self-reliant. To become a $30 trillion economy by 2047, India needs to develop its chipset value chain and reduce its dependence on imports.
In this context, Miller described the tedious 10-year process that semiconductor companies go through to establish themselves. “If you look at industry leaders like Taiwan and South Korea, they took decades to build their chip industries. They started in the 1970s, and it wasn’t until the 2000s that they became world-class players. ,” he said.
Miller acknowledged India’s progress in recent years, but stressed that it has a long way to go. “We should expect continued development, but recognize that we won’t go from our initial level to Taiwan’s level overnight.”
Miller cited talent and infrastructure as two key challenges for India to advance in the chip space.
As the country moves toward chip manufacturing, testing, and packaging, the need for talent in all of these areas becomes critical. On the infrastructure side, requirements for various chemicals, materials, and tools will be essential.
“These are all very buildable, but they take time and ability to build. I think we’re seeing that happening now, but again, it’s not going to happen overnight. “I can’t,” he said.
focus on design
Manufacturing will take time, but Miller believes India should continue to focus on its design capabilities.
“I think India has a lot of talent base in the chip design space because of the development of investments from various international companies in India. And that is a big asset. So when it comes to chip design talent, India “There is no doubt that it will be the number one or number two country in the world after the United States,” he said.
Currently, 20% of the world’s semiconductor design talent is from India, with over 35,000 engineers working on chip design. For example, South Korea, which held a 17.7% share of the global semiconductor market (2022), has extensive manufacturing expertise but little chip design capability, unlike India.
Miller also pointed out that since India is a relatively new entrant in semiconductor manufacturing, it should initially focus on established technologies rather than cutting-edge processes such as 2nm and 3nm chips.
He explained that this approach is consistent with trends in Europe, Israel and Singapore, where investments have been concentrated in mature technologies.
People often think that established technologies stop evolving and no longer experience progress. “That’s not really true. There are a lot of innovations in old process technologies that are being repurposed into new applications. And in AI, you take certain types of use cases and old technologies and add new ones to them. That trend will only accelerate as more capabilities are built in,” Miller said.
Taiwan: superpower remains
TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited) is the current superpower in the semiconductor manufacturing field, contributing to 99% of the world’s AI accelerators.
“I’m not going to bet on TSMC. The expertise they’ve built, the track record of advancing technology, and the trust they’ve built with their customers is extraordinary,” Miller said.
TSMC’s customers, including NVIDIA, AMD, Broadcom, and others, are betting on their ability to manufacture their products. And the relationships we build with these customers form the core of TSMC’s success.
While these companies remain important enablers, Miller noted that large tech companies such as Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Google also manufacture their own chips.
“This trend will continue to advance in the coming years, because if you want to take advantage of AI, specialized silicon designed for specific workloads will help reduce power consumption and the cost of running AI ( “This is because companies recognize that it is essential to their systems,” he thought.
Customization and cost efficiency are the main benefits companies are looking for when developing in-house chips. Additionally, having an in-house substitute gives it leverage to negotiate better prices with NVIDIA, which charges a premium for its chips.
Despite the efforts of other countries and China’s significant advances in the chip field, Miller believes Taiwan will continue to be at the forefront. “I would never bet against the Chinese, but I would never bet against the Taiwanese either. The Taiwanese have the upper hand right now,” he concluded.
