Comment by klooney
Comment by klooney 2 days ago
The workers can walk away with whatever is in their heads
Comment by klooney 2 days ago
The workers can walk away with whatever is in their heads
Arizona has enforceable non-compete contracts, so they may walk away with the knowledge but they might not be allowed to use it.
These workers didn't create the fab equipment and don't know how to design or create the machinery used there. They also don't have access to the software source code. Most US workers hold maintenance or managerial positions, while those with the deep technical expertise come from Taiwan. There will be no knowledge transfer, aside from how to operate the fab, which is something Intel US employees already know.
Fab equipment is made by other companies. Such as ASML:
The US workers are almost certainly limited to people who are low to mid level techs who don't know anything useful. Everyone with actual cutting edge knowledge is from Taiwan and almost certainly under the tightest of NDAs and NCAs.
Even high level people in the plant still aren't that useful. What's useful are the insanely expensive, insanely complicated extreme-ultraviolet lithography equipment from ASML. Nobody in the world makes the stuff they do. At least, that we know of. It wouldn't surprise me if the NSA has funded designing and building an EUV lithography system, or just stole the designs from ASML. We know they do a lot of their own ultra-miniature silicon, so they have a strong interest in this sort of tech.
I’ve seen this attitude in other fields and while it is conceptually true, the more complex the field, the more workers have to „walk away“ with their knowledge to have enough knowledge to be of any use