China Develops Prototype Semiconductor Manufacturing Machine Using Reverse-Engineered ASML Technology

Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor chips that power artificial intelligence, smartphones and weapons central to Western military dominance.

Completed in early 2025 and now undergoing testing, the prototype fills nearly an entire factory floor.

It was built by a team of former engineers from Dutch semiconductor giant ASML who reverse-engineered the company's extreme ultraviolet lithography machines and built a prototype using parts from older ASML machines on the secondary market.