ASML declares High-NA EUV tools ready for mass production, unlocking next phase of AI chip manufacturing

Exclusive: ASML says next-gen EUV tools ready to mass-produce chips, marking key shift for AI chip production

SAN JOSE, California, Feb 26 (Reuters) - ASML Holding's (ASML.AS), opens new tab next-generation chipmaking machine is ready for manufacturers to start bringing it into use for production at high volumes, a senior executive told Reuters, a big step for the chip industry. The Dutch company produces the world's only commercial extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) tools, which are a critical piece of equipment for chipmakers. This new tool will help chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (2330.TW), opens new tab and Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab produce more powerful and efficient chips, by eliminating several costly and complex steps from the chip-manufacturing process, data from ASML shows. ASML plans to release this data, which represents a key milestone, at a technical conference in San Jose on Thursday, the company's chief technology officer, Marco Pieters, told Reuters on Wednesday. It has taken ASML years to develop the costly, next-generation tools as chipmakers have attempted to determine at what point it makes economic sense to begin to use them for mass production. But given that the current generation of EUV tools is approaching the technical limit of their ability to make complex AI chips, the next-generation machines - called High-NA EUV tools - are key for the AI industry to improve chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT and help chipmakers deliver their AI chip roadmaps on time to meet surging demand. The new tools cost roughly $400 million, twice the cost of the original EUV machines. The High-NA EUV tools now experience limited downtime, have produced 500,000 dinner-plate-sized silicon wafers and can draw sufficiently precise patterns that make up the circuits on the chip, the ASML data shows, Pieters said. In combination, the three data points indicate the tools are ready for manufacturers. "I think that it's at a critical point to look at the amount of learning cycles that have happened," he said, referring to the number of tests that have been conducted on the machines by customers. Despite their technical readiness, it will take two to three years for companies to conduct enough testing and development to integrate them into manufacturing. "(Chipmakers) have all the knowledge to qualify these tools," Pieters said. Pieters also said the company has achieved roughly 80% uptime at the moment and plans to achieve 90% by the end of the year. The imaging data ASML plans to release is enough to convince customers to replace multiple steps with the older-generation tools with a single High-NA step, Pieters said. The 500,000 wafers the machines have processed have allowed the company to work out many of the kinks. Reporting by Max A. Cherney in San Francisco; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Matthew Lewis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Artificial Intelligence Max A. Cherney Thomson Reuters Max A. Cherney is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco, where he reports on the semiconductor industry and artificial intelligence. He joined Reuters in 2023 and has previously worked for Barron's magazine and its sister publication, MarketWatch. Cherney graduated from Trent University with a degree in history.

ASML says next-gen EUV tools ready to mass-produce chips, marking key shift for AI chip production

The Dutch company produces the world's only commercial extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) tools, which are a critical piece of equipment ⁠for ⁠chipmakers. This new tool will help chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Intel produce more powerful and efficient chips, by eliminating several costly and complex steps from the chip-manufacturing process, data from ASML shows. ASML Holding's next-generation chipmaking machine is ready for manufacturers to start bringing it into use for production at high volumes, a senior executive told Reuters, a big step for the chip industry. The Dutch company produces the world's only commercial extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) tools, which are a critical piece of equipment ⁠for ⁠chipmakers. This new tool will help chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Intel produce more powerful and efficient chips, by eliminating several costly and complex steps from the chip-manufacturing process, data from ASML shows. ASML plans to release this data, which represents a key milestone, at a technical conference in San Jose on Thursday, the company's chief technology officer, Marco Pieters, told Reuters on Wednesday. It has taken ASML years to develop the costly, next-generation tools as chipmakers have attempted to determine at what point it makes ⁠economic sense to begin to use them for mass production. But given that the current generation of EUV tools is approaching the technical limit of their ability to make complex AI chips, the ⁠next-generation machines - called High-NA EUV tools - are key for the AI industry to improve chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT and help chipmakers deliver their AI chip roadmaps on time to meet surging demand. The new tools cost roughly $400 million, twice the cost of the original EUV machines. The High-NA EUV tools now experience limited downtime, have produced 500,000 dinner-plate-sized silicon wafers and can draw sufficiently precise patterns that make up the circuits on the chip, the ASML data shows, Pieters said. In combination, the three data points indicate the tools are ready for manufacturers. "I think that it's at a critical point to look at the amount of learning cycles that have happened," he said, referring to the number of tests that have been conducted on the machines by customers. Despite their ⁠technical readiness, it will take two to three years for companies to conduct enough testing and development to integrate them into manufacturing. "(Chipmakers) have all the knowledge to qualify these tools," Pieters said. Pieters also said the company has achieved roughly 80% uptime at the moment and plans to achieve 90% by the end of the year. The imaging data ASML plans to release is enough to convince customers to replace multiple steps with the older-generation tools with a single High-NA step, Pieters said. The 500,000 wafers the machines have processed have allowed the company to work out many of the kinks.

ASML's $400 Million Beast Arrives To Power The Next AI Leap - ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML)

With a $400 million price tag and years of development behind it, ASML Holding N.V. (NASDAQ:ASML) says its High-NA EUV machines are now prepared for mass production, promising to simplify chip manufacturing and accelerate the rollout of more powerful AI hardware. ASML, the only company that sells commercial EUV lithography systems, developed the new tool to help chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) and Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) produce more powerful and energy-efficient chips. Chief Technology Officer Marco Pieters told Reuters the company will present new technical data at a conference in San Jose, highlighting the machine's progress. The High-NA systems, which cost about $400 million each, have processed 500,000 silicon wafers, achieved limited downtime, and demonstrated the precision required to create advanced chip circuits. At about $400 million per unit, the latest tools cost nearly twice as much as the company's earlier EUV machines, underscoring both their technological leap and premium positioning. ASML currently reports about 80% uptime and aims to reach 90% by year-end. While the machines are technically ready, Pieters said chipmakers will likely need two to three years of additional testing and development before fully integrating them into mass production. EUV Light Source Breakthrough ASML also advanced the performance of a critical EUV light source, a development that could increase chip output by as much as 50% by the end of the decade. The company said its system can consistently generate 1,000 watts under customer conditions and sees a path to 1,500 watts, with no fundamental barrier to eventually reaching 2,000 watts. With these improvements, customers could raise wafer production to about 330 per hour by decade's end, up from roughly 220 today. AI-Driven Growth Powers Record 2025 Strong AI-driven demand fueled ASML's 2025 results, with full-year net sales of $39.16 billion and net income of $11.5 billion. Fourth-quarter revenue reached $11.62 billion, and net bookings totaled $16.77 billion, more than half tied to EUV systems. The company ended the year with a backlog of about $46.47 billion. For 2026, ASML projects net sales between $40.72 billion and $46.7 billion and approved a share repurchase program of up to $14.37 billion through 2028. Over the past 12 months, the stock climbed over 106%, outperforming the PHLX Semiconductor Index's 75% gain. ASML Price Action: ASML Holding shares were down 0.87% at $1451.00 during premarket trading on Friday. The stock is approaching its 52-week high of $1547.22, according to Benzinga Pro data. Photo via Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

ASML says next-gen EUV tools ready to mass-produce chips, marking key shift for AI chip production

SAN JOSE, California, Feb 26 (Reuters) - ASML Holding's next-generation chipmaking machine is ready for manufacturers to start bringing it into use for production at high volumes, a senior executive told Reuters, a big step for the chip industry. The Dutch company produces the world's only commercial extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) tools, which are a critical piece of equipment for chipmakers. This new tool will help chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Intel produce more powerful and efficient chips, by eliminating several costly and complex steps from the chip-manufacturing process, data from ASML shows. ASML plans to release this data, which represents a key milestone, at a technical conference in San Jose on Thursday, the company's chief technology officer, Marco Pieters, told Reuters on Wednesday. It has taken ASML years to develop the costly, next-generation tools as chipmakers have attempted to determine at what point it makes economic sense to begin to use them for mass production. But given that the current generation of EUV tools is approaching the technical limit of their ability to make complex AI chips, the next-generation machines - called High-NA EUV tools - are key for the AI industry to improve chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT and help chipmakers deliver their AI chip roadmaps on time to meet surging demand. The new tools cost roughly $400 million, twice the cost of the original EUV machines. The High-NA EUV tools now experience limited downtime, have produced 500,000 dinner-plate-sized silicon wafers and can draw sufficiently precise patterns that make up the circuits on the chip, the ASML data shows, Pieters said. In combination, the three data points indicate the tools are ready for manufacturers. "I think that it's at a critical point to look at the amount of learning cycles that have happened," he said, referring to the number of tests that have been conducted on the machines by customers. Despite their technical readiness, it will take two to three years for companies to conduct enough testing and development to integrate them into manufacturing. "(Chipmakers) have all the knowledge to qualify these tools," Pieters said. Pieters also said the company has achieved roughly 80% uptime at the moment and plans to achieve 90% by the end of the year. The imaging data ASML plans to release is enough to convince customers to replace multiple steps with the older-generation tools with a single High-NA step, Pieters said. The 500,000 wafers the machines have processed have allowed the company to work out many of the kinks. (Reporting by Max A. Cherney in San Francisco; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Matthew Lewis)