President Emeritus C. L. Max Nikias spoke April 12th at the annual Delphi Economic Forum held annually in the ancient Greek city of Delphi.
Nikias addressed the complex and rapidly evolving subject of highly advanced semiconductor computer chips. These are the chips driving today’s artificial intelligence revolution—the same chips that are key to many military applications.
“The shortage of talent is the biggest economic threat to the future of this industry,” Nikias told the Forum. “Where are we going to find all of the talented engineers and scientists that this industry needs?”
He explained that the United States is currently imposing economic restrictions in an effort to decouple China from the complex supply chains surrounding the manufacture of the most advanced chips. The U.S. can do this because it owns most of the intellectual property for underlying semiconductor technologies.
“The Chips Acts in the U.S. and the EU, although they amount to $50 billion each, do not address the talent shortage that the industry is facing.”
Nikias believes that the U.S. and its Western allies are seven to ten years ahead of China, but China is determined to close the gap. That nation has been making huge semiconductor investments. And while China has made some progress, Nikias said the supply chain is so complicated that no single nation is likely to achieve full autonomy.
“There is bipartisan support in the U.S. for these restrictions, but we are gradually moving toward two competing solar systems of semiconductor supply chains.”
The panel was entitled “Competition and Collaboration: Balancing Priorities in the EU’s Digital Autonomy Strategy.” Other panel members included Viviane Reding, former vice president, European Commission, Luxembourg; Haris Broumidis, CEO and president of Vodafone Greece; Marc-Julian Siewert, CEO, Veridos GMBH, Germany; and Annet Aris, vice chair of ASML and Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy, INSEAD, Netherlands. Simon Nixon, editor of the United Kingdom magazine, Wealth of Nations, chaired the panel.
Also participating in the Delphi Economic Forum with Nikias was General David H. Petraeus who was a Judge Widney Professor at USC from 2013 to 2019.
“He was my most important advisor on student veteran affairs,” Nikias said.
While in Greece, Nikias and Petraeus visited the Hellenic Military Academy where the general spoke to cadets about his book, Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine. Afterwards, General Dimitrios Choupis, the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff, hosted the two for dinner.