Recent allegations by US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick against ASML have shaken the semiconductor world. According to Bloomberg, Lutnick expressed concern that one of the Dutch company's extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines may have ended up in China, which would be a major breach of export controls in place since the first Trump administration. ASML firmly denies the claim, stating that every EUV machine it has ever produced is either in active use with monitored customers or has been dismantled and returned. The Commerce Department has yet to provide public evidence supporting its assertions.
ASML's Monopoly and What's at Stake
ASML is an invisible giant but crucial to the global tech industry. Its EUV machines are the only tools on Earth capable of printing the most advanced chip patterns, used by Nvidia and Apple. Without ASML, much of modern artificial intelligence would not exist. The company is worth approximately $700 billion in market capitalization, and its monopoly makes it a sensitive target. Even one EUV machine in Chinese hands would represent a massive breach in the sanctions regime designed to slow Beijing's technological rise.
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ASML's Position and Commercial Logic
ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet, in an interview a few weeks ago, explained the company's internal security measures. The firm has built a firewall: employees with access to EUV technology are separated from those working in China. Furthermore, Fouquet emphasized that developing an EUV machine required 20 years and 80% pre-existing technology; it is not something that can be reverse-engineered without ever having owned one. Commercial logic also suggests ASML would not risk its export license for a single illegal sale. The company generates about 20% of its 2026 revenue from selling older DUV machines to China, a deliberate strategy to maintain a generational gap without creating a future competitor.
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Political Context and Competing Startups
However, the suspicion arises in a broader context. The Commerce Department has allocated up to $150 million to xLight, a startup developing alternative light-source technology for EUV. Although xLight presents itself as a partner, not a rival, the move appears parallel to the pressure. Additionally, Peter Thiel, a figure close to Trump, has backed Substrate, another startup with more direct ambitions to compete with ASML. A bipartisan bill in Congress proposes extending the ban to DUV machines as well, which would severely impact ASML's revenue.
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To better understand the implications of this story, it is useful to compare it to other recent tech controversies. For example, Epic Games' integration of generative AI into Unreal Engine 6 has sparked similar debates over regulation and innovation. Similarly, the shutdown of PayPal Ventures shows how government pressures can reshape entire industries.
The ASML case remains open. The US government has not made its evidence public, and it is right to withhold judgment. What is clear is that control over critical technologies has become a geopolitical battleground, and ASML, unwittingly, finds itself on the front line. For more on the history of EUV lithography, see the Wikipedia page dedicated to ASML.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/19/the-us-says-asmls-top-chip-tool-may-be-in-china-asml-says-it-isnt
