>I'm kinda of shocked that chip & many tech companies play ball..

Have you heard of this story? https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2007/10/qwest-ceo-nsa-punished...

The only telecom in America to resist turning on a domestic eavesdropping firehose tap for the government, was pounded to the edge of bankruptcy.

Intel and TSMC are both strategically important and favored-status corporations for the going concern of the United States, and large swaths of the federal appartatus are invested in their success, contracts, global projection, etc. That comes with a price. Naive to think they are independently operated companies.