Nvidia Isn’t the Only Problem

Linus digs into why GPUs cost an arm and a leg and why Intel, AMD, and Nvidia all pay TSMC the big bucks: there simply isn’t anyone else who can churn out those cutting-edge 7nm/5nm/3nm nodes at scale. On top of that, ASML—the Dutch wizard of EUV lithography—holds a near-monopoly on the machines needed to etch those tiny transistors, so you’ve got a one-two punch of fab and tool scarcity driving up prices.

In other words, it’s not just Nvidia’s pricing power; it’s a manufacturing bottleneck where TSMC’s fab capacity and ASML’s exclusive tech lock everyone into the same supply-chain squeeze. More competition would mean new fabs and rival litho machines—but building those is a multibillion-dollar, multi-year headache nobody’s rushing to tackle.

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