How AI works
A small corner of the Netherlands
Three companies in a few Dutch towns make tools for three big steps of chip making. They share the same roots. In 15 minutes, you learn who they are, what each tool does, and why they sit so close together.
- ALD
- Atomic layer deposition. A way to coat a wafer one layer of atoms at a time.
- Hybrid bonding
- Joining two chips face to face, copper to copper, with no solder balls between them.
- Spin-off
- A company that grows out of a part of an older company and then stands alone.
This lesson builds on From sand to AI chip in 6 steps and on The one machine no one can copy. There you met the machine. Here you meet its neighbors.
01 · The question
The map on the wall
Look at a map of the Netherlands. It is a small, flat country. Yet some of the most important chip tools come from a few towns close together: Eindhoven, Veldhoven, Almere and Duiven.
Why there? Did a few companies just get lucky?
After this lesson, you can explain the family tree.
First, a quick guess.
02 · Your guess
ASML and Besi both trace their roots to one Dutch equipment company. Which one?
A wrong guess costs nothing. Guessing first helps you remember the answer. Pick one to open the next part of the lesson.
03 · The family tree
How one corner grew three chip-tool makers
Press Next step to follow the family tree in 6 steps. Think of a big family restaurant whose children each open a shop in the same street.
04 · Remember
One family tree, three jobs: print, coat, stack.
ASML prints the pattern. ASM International coats the wafer. Besi stacks the chips. They sit in the same region, and ASM is the parent of the other two.
In the kitchen
One family restaurant grows. One child opens a bakery. Another opens a spice shop. They all stay on the same street and share the same suppliers and cooks. The street becomes known for food.
In the city
Think of a town where one big employer closes and its engineers start ten small firms. The skills stay in town. That is how a few streets become a tech hub.
Three jobs in the chip chain
- Print (ASML). The machine from the last lesson draws the tiny pattern with EUV light.
- Coat (ASM International). It makes tools for ALD. The tool builds a film one layer of atoms at a time, like painting a wall with coats that are one atom thick.
- Stack (Besi). It makes tools that join chips together. Its hybrid bonding tools press the copper pads of two chips directly together. AI chips use stacked memory, so this step matters more every year.
Why did it all start here?
Philips, the big Dutch electronics company, ran a large research lab in Eindhoven. Its engineers knew chips. When Philips and ASM International created ASM Lithography in 1984, the first home was a leaky shed next to a Philips office. In 1985 the team moved to Veldhoven, a few kilometers from the Philips research labs. Skilled people, suppliers and ideas stayed close. This is how the industry works: a region can grow around one old company.
05 · Two checks
Pass two checks to finish
A miss is fine. Each miss gives you a new case.
Check 1 of 2 · Who does which job?
Check 2 of 2 · Put the family tree in order
Tap the 6 steps from first to last. If you tap the wrong one, you get a hint.
06 · Tell a friend
Your one-minute answer about the Dutch corner
Say it in your own words. Here is a version you can use:
The one-minute version
"Three Dutch companies make tools for three chip steps. ASML prints the pattern with EUV light. ASM International, from Almere, coats wafers one layer of atoms at a time. Besi, from Duiven, joins chips together, copper to copper. They share roots. In 1984, ASM and Philips created ASM Lithography, which became ASML. Besi is another former ASM business. Philips had a big research lab in Eindhoven, so the skills stayed in the region."
| ASML | Veldhoven. Prints the pattern with EUV light. |
| ASM International | Almere. Tools for ALD, the atom-thin coating. |
| Besi | Duiven. Tools that stack and join chips. |
| Philips | Eindhoven. Co-founded ASML in 1984. |
Try it today: ask an AI "What does hybrid bonding do for AI chips?" Then compare it with the Besi job in this lesson.
This lesson explains how the industry works. It is not advice to buy or sell any stock.
Back to all lessons