Always Be Curious #236: ASML's 2030 outlook, the future of AI, and 20 years of Half-Life 2
This week in ABC: ASML held its Investor Day and confirmed its 2030 revenue scenarios, Lex Fridman interviews Anthropic CEO about artificial general intelligence, and Half-Life 2 launched 20 years ago
This week, my company ASML held its 2024 Investor Day, providing an update on our long-term strategy as well as global market and technology trends. We confirmed potential 2030 scenarios for annual revenue between approximately €44 billion and €60 billion with a gross margin of between approximately 56% and 60%. 💪
The long-term outlook for the semiconductor industry remains promising, given the role of semiconductors as mission-critical enablers of multiple megatrends across society. ✨ In addition to the growth potential of several important end-markets, ASML believes that the emergence of AI creates a significant opportunity for the semiconductor industry, thanks to the potential that AI brings as the next big driver of productivity and innovation across wider society. These developments are expected to help fuel global semiconductor sales to over $1 trillion by 2030, which translates into an annual semiconductor market growth rate of approximately 9% in the period 2025-2030. 📈
“We expect that our ability to scale EUV technology into the next decade and extend our versatile holistic lithography portfolio, positions ASML well to contribute to, and leverage the Artificial Intelligence (AI) opportunity, and allows ASML to deliver significant revenue and profitability growth,” says President and CEO Christophe Fouquet.
Have a good week, stay safe and sound,
👨💻The round-up in sci-tech💡
🤖 Where’s my robot butler? (IEEE Spectrum)
Here’s how we could finally build AI humanoid robots that do all our domestic chores.
🧬 AI protein-prediction tool AlphaFold3 is now open source (Nature)
The code underlying the Nobel-prize-winning tool for modelling protein structures can now be downloaded by academics.
🍿 Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Claude, AGI and the future of AI and humanity (Lex Fridman Podcast #452)
💎 Scientists create photonic time crystals that amplify light exponentially (Scitech Daily)
Scientists created photonic time crystals, unique materials that amplify light and could enhance lasers, sensors, and communication technologies. These crystals exhibit time-based oscillations, allowing for the exponential amplification of light, with potential applications ranging from advanced sensing to communication.
🇳🇱 Dit is de Chinese strategie in de techoorlog: heel China draait straks op ‘Huawei Inside’ / This is China's strategy in the tech war: soon, all of China will run on 'Huawei Inside.' (NRC) 🔐
Five years ago, Donald Trump started the tech war against Huawei. Cut off from American chips and software, the Chinese tech giant is reinventing itself with (almost) self-driving cars, its own operating system, and a key role in China's domestic chip industry.
🤓 Maker builds Raspberry Pi-powered Rick and Morty watch to remotely control smart home (Tom’s Hardware)
I turned myself into a Raspberry Pi, Morty! Boom! Big reveal! I'm a Pi!
🌋 The next massive volcano eruption will cause climate chaos — and we are unprepared (Nature)
Volcanic activity will be experienced differently in a warmer world. Researchers need to understand these risks and how they could spiral.
🏛️ With DNA, Pompeii narratives take a twist (The New York Times)🎁
In 79 A.D., a volcanic eruption engulfed a town’s residents. They weren’t all who scientists thought, newly extracted genetic material suggests.
🤓This week in chips⚠
📈 ASML believes global semiconductor markets will reach $1 trillion valuation by 2030, driven by huge AI demand (Wccftech)
ASML, the chip equipment manufacturer, believes that global semiconductor sales will rise to $1 trillion by 2030, citing the AI hype.
💪 ASML puts peak litho rumors to rest (Bits&Chips)
Perhaps the number of exposures will peak one day, but it won’t be anytime soon, says ASML.
🇹🇼 TSMC cannot make 2nm chips abroad now: MOEA (Taipei Times)
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits TSMC from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said yesterday.
🎌 Japan to roll out $65bn in support for chips, AI (Nikkei)
Measures will run through fiscal 2030, with eye on homegrown chipmaker Rapidus.
🎌 Japan’s Rapidus to receive first EUV in mid-December, with ASML planning service center nearby (Trendforce)
“According to a report from MoneyDJ, citing Nikkei, the EUV lithography equipment ordered by Rapidus is expected to arrive at New Chitose Airport in mid-December. The machine will be transported using multiple large cargo planes. This will mark the first introduction of EUV lithography equipment in Japan, a significant milestone for the country’s semiconductor industry.”
🇪🇺 EU invests 133 million Euro in Dutch photonic chip plants (Reuters)
The European Union will invest 133 million euros in pilot production facilities for photonic semiconductors in the Netherlands. The production lines will land in Eindhoven and Enschede, the homes of of indium phosphide (InP) and silicon nitride (SiN) integrated-photonics platforms.
💰🇩🇪 Intel postpones Magdeburg fab until 2029 to 2030 — German subsidies to Intel could go back to the federal budget (Tom’s Hardware)
However, the finance minister opposes the move.
📈By the numbers📉
🇳🇱 ASML Investor day 2024 (ASML)
“The expected growth in semiconductor end-markets and increasing lithography spending on future nodes, give us confidence in strong demand for our products and services,” says Executive Vice President and CFO Roger Dassen. “Based on our assessment of different market and technology scenarios, we expect annual revenue between approximately €44 billion and €60 billion with gross margin between approximately 56% and 60% by 2030. We confirm our capital allocation strategy, and expect to continue to return significant amounts of cash to our shareholders through a combination of growing dividends and share buybacks.”
🇺🇸 Applied Materials announces Q4 fiscal year 2024 results (Applied Materials)
“Applied Materials’ technology leadership and strong execution drove record Q4 and fiscal 2024 performance, our fifth consecutive year of growth,” said Gary Dickerson, President and CEO. “Our portfolio of products and services uniquely positions us to enable our customers in their pursuit of AI and energy-efficient computing. As these key drivers of semiconductor innovation continue to grow in importance, the industry’s roadmap is becoming increasingly dependent on materials engineering, where Applied is the clear leader.”
❤️For the love of tech❤️
November 16th marks the 20th anniversary of Half-Life 2. ✨ Back in 2004, this game left an unforgettable mark on a generation of gamers, so it is fitting to pay tribute! 🎮
Always Be Curious is the personal newsletter of Sander Hofman, Senior Creative Content Strategist at ASML. Opinions expressed in this curated newsletter are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
https://open.substack.com/pub/billionairbear/p/rick-and-morty-thoughts-on-roy-and?r=1g5bw0&utm_medium=ios
Whaooh this is fantastic