In Holland, at the ASML Headquarters, Gallaher Rodney, CEO of the company, was awakened by a phone call in the middle of the night. The caller told him several surprising bits of news in succession.
What shocked him the most was that Z country's Zhongxin International broke through the ban on the sales of photolithography machines into their country. They manufactured their own EUV photolithography machines and used them to produce the 5-nanometer chips.
"How is this possible?" Gallaher Rodney was stunned still. It had only been a few months since the ban was implemented. This was impossible!
The company's shareholders and upper management were reduced to a mess during the emergency meeting held on the very next day. The gentlemanly elegance, the certainty, and the calm composure that they had in the past were now lost.
"This is absolutely impossible! It must be fake news!"
