President Emeritus C. L. Max Nikias served as a keynote speaker at the World Congress on Innovation and Technology (WCIT) held from October 4 – 7, 2024, in Yerevan, Armenia. Traveling with a group of USC luminaries, Nikias also visited some of Armenia’s unique cultural and historic sites.
Nikias’ October 5 address, entitled Semiconductor Chips at the Center of Geopolitical Competition, covered the Cold-War style tensions between the world’s two largest economies – the United States and China – and how it affects the global production of semiconductor computer chips.
In recent years he has maintained that the manufacture of semiconductor computer chips has become the world’s most important industry.
“We’re finding more and more uses for these chips every day,” he said, adding that semiconductor chips are the foundation for the current artificial intelligence revolution. Chips underlie 5G networks, robotics, telemedicine, virtual and augmented reality, streaming entertainment, remote education, the Internet of Things and many critical military applications.
“Chips are the brains behind everything!”
He said a dozen years ago, cars had only a few simple computer chips. Today’s cars contain 1,400 or 1,500 chips. “The new Audi and Volkswagen EVs today have 8,000 chips!”
According to Car and Driver magazine, electronics now account for 40 percent of the cost of new cars.
Nikias described the semiconductor industry as “transilient,” explaining that it means industry is subject to rapid changes and big breakthroughs.
“But it doesn’t mean the industry is chaotic,” he said. “It may appear chaotic but in reality, the industry has advanced steadily for half a century in step with Moore’s Law.” Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, famously observed in 1965 that the number of transistors in integrated circuits roughly doubles every two years.
Today, a relatively small number of countries make up the complex supply chain for the manufacture of semiconductor computer chips. He said nations are scrambling to grab a place in that supply chain or to tighten their grip on the place they already hold.
“The most advanced chips today are currently made in Taiwan by TSMC, and in South Korea by Samsung,” Nikias said. “Both companies are planning or have already begun construction of plants in the United States to make these advanced chips.”
So far, China has been unable to master the technologies to make the most advanced chips. In recent years, the U.S. has moved to block China’s access to those technologies but Nikias said there are signs that China is making progress as it continues to pour billions of dollars to master the manufacture of advanced semiconductor chips.
However, China, along with the U.S. and several other countries, do make many millions of the less-advanced chips, which have become ubiquitous in today’s economy.
“I was pleasantly surprised to see that Armenia, although a small country, is in the forefront of the semiconductor chips design and verification software development,” Nikias said. “Armenia also emphasizes STEM disciplines in their schools, which enables a critical mass in their tech industry workforce.”
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While in Armenia, Nikias visited the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute and its memorial dedicated to the memory of the 1.5 million people who perished in 1915 Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Turks.
“This was a very moving experience for me,” he said. “Most scholars today believe that the Armenian Genocide served as a blueprint for the Holocaust.”
Nikias also met with his Holiness Karekian II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians worldwide, and the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
“The Kingdom of Armenia adopted Christianity as its official religion in 301 A.D.,” he said. “It was the very first nation in the world to embrace Christianity.”
Nikias traveled to Armenia with a group of USC luminaries – former chair of the USC Board of Trustees, Ed Roski; Charly Ghalian, chair of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies; and Judge (Ret.) Dickran Tevrizian, member of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies.