Tim Cook Warned by CIA That China Could Move on Taiwan by 2027

Apple CEO Tim Cook was among a fistful of apical tech executives who attended a classified CIA briefing informing that China could onslaught Taiwan by 2027, according to a sweeping investigative study by The New York Times ($).


The antecedently unreported briefing was seemingly held successful a unafraid country successful Silicon Valley successful July 2023. The gathering is said to person been arranged astatine the petition of the then-commerce caput Gina Raimondo, who had grown frustrated with the tech industry's reluctance to determination spot accumulation distant from Taiwan.

CIA manager William Burns and manager of nationalist quality Avril Haines reportedly presented the latest quality connected China's subject plans to Cook, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, AMD CEO Lisa Su, and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon.

Cook reportedly told officials afterward that helium slept "with 1 oculus open."

A akin classified league was said to person been held astatine the White House successful precocious 2021, but executives near skeptical due to the fact that overmuch of the quality had already been reported publicly. Earlier that aforesaid year, a elder U.S. subject authoritative had told Congress that the equipped services believed President Xi Jinping of China wanted his service to beryllium acceptable to instrumentality Taiwan by 2027. From the report:
Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden's nationalist information adviser, ranked the U.S. reliance connected Taiwan for semiconductors arsenic 1 of America's top vulnerabilities. He wanted the manufacture to admit the hazard and enactment operation of U.S. manufacturing plants. Mr. Biden besides wanted to supply $50 cardinal successful authorities subsidies to physique semiconductor plants domestically [resulting successful the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022].

"We were saying: 'This is crazy. We person to bash thing astir it,'" Mr. Sullivan said successful an interview.The probe reveals Silicon Valley's stubborn dependence connected Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which produces astir 90 percent of the world's astir precocious chips, including each of Apple's customized silicon for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

A confidential 2022 study commissioned by the Semiconductor Industry Association and reviewed by NYT concluded that losing entree to Taiwan's spot proviso would trigger the worst economical situation since the Great Depression, with U.S. GDP falling 11 percent. Another study by Bloomberg from January 2024 estimated a struggle would outgo the planetary system much than $10 trillion.

Despite the warnings, the NYT probe recovered that companies including Apple were initially dilatory to perpetrate to buying much costly chips from U.S. factories. Chips made domestically outgo much than 25 percent supra those produced successful Taiwan due to the fact that of higher material, labour and permitting costs, and TSMC's Arizona plants presently tally exertion a procreation down what's disposable connected the island.

Apple has since taken steps, however. Last summer, Cook visited the Oval Office and committed to investing $100 cardinal successful the United States, with the wealth being utilized to enactment TSMC and different spot manufacturers. Apple has reportedly besides begun holding all-day engineering meetings with Intel to measure its manufacturing capabilities.

TSMC has present committed to astir $165 cardinal successful U.S. investment, including onshore for astatine slightest 5 further plants successful Phoenix. The company's Arizona installation precocious produced Nvidia's archetypal U.S.-made AI chip, though the study notes that adjacent those chips inactive request to beryllium shipped backmost to Taiwan for precocious packaging.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's authorities maintains an unofficial argumentation requiring TSMC to support its astir precocious manufacturing exertion connected the island. This "silicon shield" is designed to marque the state excessively economically important to onslaught – yet Russia's penetration of Ukraine has shown that economical self-interest does not needfully forestall subject aggression. TSMC's CFO said earlier this twelvemonth that its astir precocious processes volition stay successful Taiwan for the foreseeable future.
This article, "Tim Cook Warned by CIA That China Could Move connected Taiwan by 2027" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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