Why TSMC Wins | Inside The Secret Chip Empire | Former TSMC R&D Director Explains AI's Future

[ENG/中文CC] How did Taiwan become the center of the global semiconductor industry? Today, artificial intelligence, supercomputers, electric vehicles, and smartphones all rely on advanced semiconductors. At the heart of this ecosystem is Taiwan, home to the world's leading chip manufacturers and one of the most sophisticated technology supply chains ever built. Host: Laurel Stewart Guest: Dr. Konrad Young Former R&D Director, TSMC. CEO of the Innovation College at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology In this episode of The Chain Maker, we explore: • The origins of Taiwan's semiconductor industry • The role of ITRI and Hsinchu Science Park • Why Taiwan succeeded when others did not • The importance of semiconductor ecosystems • TSMC's rise as a global technology leader • The impact of AI on chip manufacturing • Advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration • The Arizona fab and U.S. expansion • Geopolitical challenges facing Taiwan • Advice for the next generation of engineers From PCs and the internet to smartphones and artificial intelligence, this conversation reveals how Taiwan became indispensable to the global digital economy—and what comes next. 00:00 Taiwan's Chip Origins 06:45 The Returnee Wave 08:02 Taiwan's Turning Point 10:44 Manufacturing Culture 12:43 Riding Every Tech Wave 14:11 Why Taiwan Wins 17:03 The AI Compute Race 18:25 TSMC's 10-Year Bet 19:40 The War Threat 20:30 TSMC in Arizona 22:14 Advice for Engineers 25:13 SK Hynix's AI Bet 25:59 Taiwan's Next Chapter #TSMC #Semiconductors #AI #COUPE #CPO #SoC #CoWos #CoPos #Taiwan #NVIDIA #MorrisChang #JensenHuang #lisasu #CCWei #KonradYoung #Geopolitics #secondworldwar #crossstraitrelations #donaldtrump #xijinping #SiliconShield #Chokehold #ArtificialIntelligence #AIChips #ChipManufacturing #Technology #FoundryModel #AdvancedPackaging #DRAM #HBM #Korea #Japan #US #AMD #Intel #Apple #IBM #ElonMusk #Tesla #SpaceX #Grok #Meta #ASICS #amazon #microsoft #google #alphabet #SemiconductorIndustry #Innovation #SupplyChain #TaiwanTechnology #TaiwanTech #ITRI #RCA #Arizona #JASM #Kumamoto #Fab #Foundry #HsinchuSciencePark #KonradYoung #TheChainMaker #TaiwanPlus #TaiwanPlusNews