WASHINGTON TELLS ASML A BANNED CHIP MACHINE MAY HAVE REACHED CHINA AND NOBODY CAN PROVE IT EITHER WAY Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sat down with ASML executives and told them the United States government believes one of their most advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography machines may have made its way into China, in violation of years of US-led export restrictions. ASML denied it completely. The company stated it has never shipped an EUV machine to China and never shipped any component or module specially designed for EUV use to Chinese buyers. For context, an ASML EUV scanner is one of the most complex machines ever built. It contains one hundred thousand components, weighs one hundred eighty tons, and must be transported across multiple cargo planes. The idea that such a machine was secretly diverted is, by ASML’s telling, logistically absurd. But the United States government is not backing down. Senior administration officials told Bloomberg they have information suggesting ASML exported equipment associated with EUV systems, including specialized transport systems, though they declined to share any evidence citing national security sensitivity. EUV machines are the foundation of advanced semiconductor manufacturing. Without them, companies like TSMC cannot make chips for Nvidia and Apple. If China has obtained even partial access to this technology, the implications for the global AI chip race are severe. The Commerce Department has not publicly disclosed its evidence. ASML says there is none. Keywords: ASML EUV China export ban, ASML chip machine China, semiconductor export controls, AI chip supply chain security