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>and we have top tier production here in the US

TSMC's process that they are bringing to the US is 2nd tier. The crown jewels are being kept at home.

If Intel can get their act together, then we will have top tier in the US.

That's not really true, afaict. This press release[1] states that Fab 21 (Arizona) phase 1 is 4nm, which is not the best but clearly is enough to manufacture the A16, phase 2 opening in 2026 will be 3nm, and phase 3 will be 2nm or better. I'm not a semiconductor engineer so maybe there's some process nuance that I don't know, but it certainly seems that this is at or near the top of TSMC's process list.

[1]: https://pr.tsmc.com/english/news/2977

Those are decently advanced nodes, but if 3nm isn't coming until 2026 then this is absolutely a last-gen fab. For reference, Samsung is considered a "last-gen/trailing gen" fab, and they'll be shipping 2nm in 2026 on their roadmap.

Taiwan's TSMC will have a process and sampling edge for the foreseeable future, unless they change the roadmap.

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