Did Morris Chang return to Taiwan to establish TSMC due to pressure from American racism? Musk: The potential for talent development in Taiwan is the main reason.

Recently, Bojan Tunguz, a machine learning expert working at NVIDIA, pointed out after reading Chris Miller's book "Chip Wars: The Battle for the World's Most Crucial Technology" that Morris Chang chose to establish TSMC in Taiwan instead of the United States. This was because at that time, there was rampant anti-immigrant and racist sentiment in the American industry.

Musk also stated in the comments that, in his understanding, Taiwan's large number of undeveloped technical talents is the main reason. Youtube's Taiwanese founder, Steven Chen, also commented on Musk's remarks, saying that this is an accurate evaluation of Taiwan.

Bojan: The United States may have paid a price for driving away Zhang Zhongmou during the anti-immigrant fervor at that time.

Bojan Tungu has worked in several tech startups and most recently at NVIDIA. He holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and has eight years of experience in machine learning and data science, during which he has dealt with many practical problems in financial technology (FinTech). After reading "The Chip War," he also shared his insights.

"The reason why Morris Chang founded TSMC in Taiwan instead of the United States is because at that time, there was rampant anti-immigrant and racist sentiment in the industry, and he was unable to make progress in his career. This may be the biggest non-coerced mistake in the history of American technology. We may pay a very high price for this in the coming years." wrote Bojan Tungu.

Musk: Taiwan's talent development potential is the main reason for choosing Taiwan

Musk replied, "I'm not sure if this is his view. But the main reason is the large number of undeveloped technical talents in Taiwan. At least, that's my understanding." The author added: Here, it is important to remember that Musk is referring to TSMC, founded around 1987.

Bojan Tungu attached this idea after reading page 163 of the book 'Chip War', and the text said:

Mr. Lee turned to an early man who helped bring semiconductor assembly to Taiwan: Chang Zhongmou. Zhang, who worked at Texas Instruments for more than two decades, left the company in the early 1980s after failing to promote CEO, a situation he later said made him feel "banished." He worked for a year at an electronics company called General Instruments in New York, but quit shortly afterwards because he was dissatisfied with his job.

Morris Chang himself assisted in the construction of the global semiconductor industry, and Texas Instruments' highly efficient manufacturing process is the result of his experiments and improved yield. The position of CEO at Texas Instruments was originally expected to elevate him to the top position in the chip industry, alongside the likes of Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore. Therefore, when the Taiwan government called to invite him to lead the chip industry on the island and provide unlimited financial support for his plan, Morris Chang was interested in this proposal. At the age of 54, he was seeking new challenges.

Regarding Musk's response, this Chinese American Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Chen Shijun, affirms that it is an accurate description of Taiwan at that time. However, the answer to this question may appear in the next volume of Zhang Zhongmou's autobiography.

This article, is Morris Chang forced to return to Taiwan to establish TSMC due to American racism? Musk: Taiwan's potential in developing talents is the main reason.