Top Companies Racing to Build the World’s Most Advanced Chips

The race for the world’s most advanced chips is led by TSMC, Samsung, and Intel. TSMC currently has the strongest position in leading-edge manufacturing, while Samsung and Intel are investing heavily to close the gap and win more advanced chip orders.

TSMC remains the leader in advanced chip manufacturing. Its 2nm process entered high-volume production in the fourth quarter of 2025, while its A16 technology is planned for volume production in the second half of 2026.

Samsung Foundry is challenging TSMC with 2nm technology and gate-all-around transistor designs. The company began planning 2nm mass production for mobile chips in 2025 and aims to expand the process to high-performance computing and automotive applications.

Intel is taking a different route with its 18A process and RibbonFET technology. Intel 18A entered production in 2025, while High-NA EUV is already being used on selected 18A layers for high-volume products, giving Intel an important technology milestone.

NVIDIA and AMD are major chip designers rather than foundries. NVIDIA leads the AI GPU market, while AMD competes across AI accelerators, CPUs, and GPUs. Both depend on advanced manufacturing partners to turn their chip designs into physical products.

SK hynix and Micron are also key players in the AI chip race through high-bandwidth memory. HBM supplies the huge amounts of data needed by modern AI processors, making memory technology as important as advanced processors for AI infrastructure.

ASML sits at the heart of the chip race by supplying the EUV lithography systems used to manufacture leading-edge chips. Its High-NA EUV technology offers higher-resolution patterning and is designed to support future 2nm-class and more advanced manufacturing.

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