Recently, after reading Chris Miller's (Chip Wars: The Struggle for the World's Most Critical Technology) book, Bojan Tunguz, a machine learning expert who works at NVIDIA, pointed out that Chang chose to found TSMC in Taiwan rather than in the United States. It was because anti-immigrant and racist sentiment was rampant in the American industry at the time.
Musk also expressed his understanding in the message area that Taiwan’s large number of untapped technical talents is the main reason. Steven Chen, the Taiwanese founder of Youtube, also responded to Musk’s comments and said that this is an accurate evaluation of Taiwan.
Bojan: The United States may pay the price for driving out Zhang Zhongmou because of the anti-immigration fervor at the time
Bojan Tungu has worked at various technology startups, most recently at NVIDIA. He holds a PhD in theoretical physics and has eight years of experience in machine learning and data science, where he has worked on many practical issues in financial technology (FinTech). And just after reading (Chip War), he also shared his thoughts.
"The reason why Chang founded TSMC in Taiwan rather than in the United States was because anti-immigrant and racist sentiment was rampant in the industry at the time and he was unable to progress in his career. This may be the biggest unforced error in the history of American technology. We may pay a very high price for this in the coming years," wrote Bojan Tungu.
Musk: The main reason for choosing Taiwan is to develop its talent potential
Musk responded: "I'm not sure if this is his view. But the large number of untapped technical talents in Taiwan is the main reason. At least, this is my understanding." The author added: Remember what Musk is referring to here. TSMC was founded around 1987.
Bojan Tungu attached that this thought was a conclusion drawn after reading page 163 of the book (Chip Wars), which reads:
Li turned to an early figure who helped bring semiconductor assembly to Taiwan: Chang Chung-mou. Zhang Zhongmou worked at Texas Instruments for more than two decades, but left the company in the early 1980s after being passed over for promotion to CEO, a situation he later said made him feel "exiled." He worked for a year at an electronics company in New York called General Instruments, but soon resigned due to dissatisfaction with his job.
Zhang Zhongmou personally helped build the world's semiconductor industry, and Texas Instruments' highly efficient manufacturing processes were the result of his experiments and improved yields. His desired CEO role at Texas Instruments would have propelled him to the top of the chip industry, alongside the likes of Bob Noyce or Gordon Moore. So when the Taiwanese government called to invite him to lead the island's chip industry and provide unrestricted funding to support its plans, Chang was interested in the offer. At 54, he is looking for a new challenge.
Regarding Musk's reply, the Chinese-born Silicon Valley entrepreneur Chen Shijun affirmed that this was an accurate description of Taiwan at that time. However, the answer to this question may appear in Zhang Zhongmou's autobiography.
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