Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“The handful of U.S. firms that dominate global tech and artificial intelligence has almost universal name recognition. And it’s quite widely known that they rely on semiconductors manufactured in East Asia, mainly Taiwan. But it’s safe to say that very, very few people realize that the world’s only maker of the complex lithography machines – used by Asian firms to fabricate the chips that power American tech advances – is headquartered in … Europe. (The Netherlands, to be precise.) Not knowing this little factoid is about more than industry trivia. It points to long-standing, and not entirely merited, views of the continent as an economic has-been, held back by red tape, capital constraints, and innovation inertia. In fact, the European Union is making quiet, consistent progress in undoing both limiting perceptions and policies – even as global markets are more focused on multitrillion-dollar Wall Street listings …” (06/09/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0609/Europe-shakes-off-innovation-gloom