CNBC Marathon investigates the intricate, high-stakes world of semiconductor manufacturing from the Dutch labs powering AI chip breakthroughs to the billion-dollar fabs reshaping U.S. industry.
In a highly secured lab in the Netherlands, ASML spent a decade developing a $400 million machine that’s transforming how microchips are made. High NA is the latest generation of EUV, the only machines in the world that can etch nanoscopic blueprints on advanced chips for giants like Intel, TSMC and Samsung. The size of a double-decker bus, only five of these machines have been shipped so far. It’s unclear how Trump’s tariffs will impact the complex global supply chain for the lithography machines. But without them, no advanced chips can be made by the likes of Nvidia, Apple and AMD. No filming of High NA has ever been allowed until CNBC went to the Netherlands for this exclusive first look.
Texas Instruments is building a $60 billion U.S. manufacturing megaproject where Apple vows to make “critical foundation semiconductors” for iPhones and other devices. CNBC went to Sherman, Texas, for an exclusive first look inside the newest fab of seven TI’s building in Utah and Texas to provide U.S.-made chips to customers like Nvidia and Ford. TI shares have suffered amid tariff concerns, and it’s lost analog market share for several years, but top leaders are confident about the huge spend.
iPhone Air was the big star unveiled by Apple in early September but inside was another hardware set launched that day: three new custom Apple microchips. Apple’s A19 Pro SoC prioritizes AI workloads with neural accelerators added to the GPU cores. Replacing Broadcom and Qualcomm parts is the N1 and C1X, Apple’s first iPhone networking chip and second-generation iPhone modem. CNBC sat down with three Apple executives for the first U.S. interviews about its move to control all core iPhone chips.
This CNBC Marathon looks at the global race to build AI chips and how Apple is using the chips.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:00: How ASML Makes Chips Faster With Its New $400 Million High NA Machine (Published May 2025)
18:09: Why Texas Instruments Is Betting $60 Billion On Making Cheap Chips In The U.S. (Published August 2025)
33:48: How Apple’s New iPhone Chips Enable On-Device AI (Published September 2025)
Produced by: Katie Tarasov
Edited by: Evan Lee Miller, Mike Heffron
Additional Camera: Magdalena Petrova, Andrew Evers, Graham Merwin
Animation: Jason Reginato, Mithra Krishnan, Emily Park
Senior Director of Video: Jeniece Pettitt
Additional Editing: Isabel Iino
Additional Footage: TSML, Intel, Getty Images, TSMC, Zeiss, Texas Instruments, KTEN, Samsung, Nvidia, Qualcomm
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Inside America’s Race To Build The Next Generation Of AI Chips
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