[dragontamer]

It costs over a billion dollars to build a new fab lab on the latest tech. Maybe $5 billion or more.

Fewer and fewer companies can even attempt to reach 7nm. Its the nature of the beast. The technology is approaching silicon's natural limits, and the amount of research and development needed to advance is getting more and more costly.

[eeZah7Ux]

Allowing the fabs to be in the hands of private investors and under a dictatorial government is well beyond "the nature of the beast".

That level of secrecy and lack of accountability is not a necessary evil.