Why GlobalFoundries Couldn’t Give Abu Dhabi a Semiconductor Fab

[@at0mly]

Missed opportunity to call it Fabu Dhabi.

[@UCgBe3]

Abu Fhabi

[@davidlericain]

I hope there's a Hobby Lobby in Abu Dhabi. He should do a video on that.

[@doctorpatient519]

@@davidlericain if they hired an obnoxious British cop for security there would be a Snobby Bobby at the Hobby Lobby in Abu Dhabi

[@moldytexas]

dude 😭😭😭😭😭

[@Abdega]

I was literally about to comment that until I saw you beat me to it by 11 hours 😅

[@jamesmiller2521]

The pearl industry has fallen. Billions must watch the video

[@creativemindplay]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Ben.....]

I thought the pearl video was super interesting.

[@leetakamiya]

I saw the pearl episode and now I’m a nobody…ouch.

[@boossersgarage3239]

if the shoe fits....

[@leetakamiya]

@@boossersgarage3239 Now I gotta worry about wearing my shoes instead of flip flops….double ouch

[@vkiwi2429]

same here, was a good video

[@lurkingstar]

pearl episode watchers unite!

[@Coillcara]

You are *almost nobody*. Which is 100% better than an actual nobody 😂

[@Akutabai5]

"Nobody watched the pearl video" Me doing an Elrond voice: I was there three thousand years ago

[@GoooObama08]

Haha nice one 😅

[@asbjoernandersen4875]

"I did a whole video on the pearl diving industry in UAE that nobody watched" ...I watched it and found it extremely fascinating!! Thank you for putting it together.

[@bobflatman278]

I watched. Know what you meant

[@straighttalk2069]

Nothing to see here, just a couple of nobodies.😂

[@andersjjensen]

Heeey, mah man? I watched the cultured pearls video and enjoyed it! That said, I'm sorry for Abu's loss. They'll never make that back. But I'm happy that AMD got out. "Real men" or not they have certainly lit a fire under Intel, which was sorely needed.

[@StuartSolberg]

Did not notice any (unplanned foley) noises... just lots of great detailed 'reporting.' Keep up the stuff you are doing well, and let the chips fall.

[@ProgrammingWIthRiley]

lol chips

[@geoffreymarounakiki8391]

I was the General Manager of Global Foundries Abu Dhabi........interesting video and perspective

[@interrobangings]

I was going to say that's BS but I found your LinkedIn 🤯 You did it for NINE YEARS!!! I'd love to watch an interview between you and Asianometry

[@Grateful.For.Everything]

@@interrobangings yes!

[@Nico-wp6jq]

come on dude, you can't leave us hanging with just that comment, is Asianometry on the mark ?

[@christopherneufelt8971]

@@Nico-wp6jq When I go to exhibitions and they ask me to judge something, then to conceal my opinion I say also INTERESTING. It is very helpful, since gives to the idiot hope, and to the clever the verification of his effort. Judging Asianometry, I express that never let me down.

[@mwanafalsafa3613]

F

[@v8pilot]

Hey! I watched your pearl fishing video! And I found it very interesting.

[@johnbofarullguix1499]

Years ago I spoke to a guy who was working in a new fab in europe, EU was giving Tons of public money to a bunch of 9-to-5 mon-to-fri gov employees, pen pushers with CV's filled up academic EU crap.. The point is that they had chosen a fab location really close to a major motorway. For months their yield was below potato roots and they didn't know why. After a lot of money on external contractors they found out that the vibrations from the rolling traffic along the nearby motorway was affecting the accuracy of a bunch of instruments that were suffering mechanical jitter invisible to eye, ruining batch after bach the production. If some cars and lorries rolling nearby can ruin the entire chip production, all the aircraft traffic of a world airport just around the corner .. why didn't they choose a place far away from ANY traffic?

[@eleghari]

Similar thing happened in India 🤭 "Growing silicon demands tremendous infrastructure, one of them being a zero-shake environment. We had a railway track running beside the factory. We’d work all night when the trains wouldn’t run. We had the talent and commitment, but we did not get the support from the parent body."

[@nicka99]

Planes don’t vibrate the ground, and machines and floors can be isolated

[@oadka]

Which company? Scil? ​@@eleghari

[@thekinginyellow1744]

@@nicka99 No, they vibrate the walls, which causes pressure fluctuations that are transmitted throughout the building.

[@nicka99]

@@thekinginyellow1744planes don’t vibrate walls. Look up air overpressure

[@x_maut_x]

I liked the pearl video very unique wouldn't have known about it unless saw this thanks for promoting it

[@DanWorksTV]

48.000 people watched the pearl industry video

[@gregallen485]

And I was one of them. It was a good video but I'm old enough to remember a lot of diving shows in the 60's and always wondered what happened to the peal divers along with my electrical engineering/CS background that brought me here, it's a slightly unusual combo of interests. I'm sorry more don't share them but I appreciated the episode and the effort that went into making it :)

[@charlesvaughan3517]

Dang i felt special for having watched it 😢

[@annoloki]

...and this video gets 48,000 comments "I watched it!"

[@zks82mdu3b]

You said nobody.

[@paulkita]

48 people watched that video?

[@hazembayado9521]

I am willing to bet money that politics was the reason this didn't happen. Thanks for the video man!

[@YoY664]

bro, I watched the pearl industry video, atleast half of it

[@cogoid]

A completely different topic. Malta NY is also famous for being the place where German rocket engines were fired after WWII. While von Braun and his team were holed up in White Sands NM, American engineers were playing with the German hardware at the test stands in Malta. Critically studying the available hardware was a very useful experience, from which the next generation of engine technology emerged. When von Braun was finally building his US Redstone ballistic missile, he was already buying for it a commercially available US-designed and built engine, which was considerably more advanced compared to the original German know-how.

[@williambehan7681]

Yeah at pretty much the build site of the GF fab, southern tip of Saratoga Lake.

[@Jmack1lla]

I watched and enjoyed your pearl video bro

[@cflhardcorekid]

I watched your Pearl industry video lol

[@DanWorksTV]

I watched all your videos

[@gus473]

Came to say the same: another great episode!

[@connorburns7288]

That video rocked.

[@samiu7580]

#MeToo watched the Pearl Videos.

[@edp5226]

keep up the videos bro. thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@nah95]

Here I was, wondering if I had been reading "Mubadala" wrong all these years.

[@jaafersa]

He's pronouncing it wrong. The correct pronunciation is: Moo-bah-dalah. Not Mooba-dala. Source: Used to live in UAE and knew people who worked there.

[@nah95]

@@jaafersa I thought I heard him say "Mudabala".

[@AdiNair]

THIS. i heard this the entire video and was like wtf somethings off lol. Its Mubadala, Not Mudabala like in the vid.

[@jonathonparker2577]

You just might get the same number of comments on this video as those who *watched* the cultured pearl video. Nobody? I treasured that video, man.

[@aalhashmi90]

In 2012, I had a friend who was studying in the US under a scholarship from Mubadala in the condition he will work in Abu Dhabi Foundry. Sadly, after the project was canceled, they told him look for work somewhere else😢

[@Bell_plejdo568p]

Are u emarti

[@aalhashmi90]

@@Bell_plejdo568p yes

[@aalhashmi90]

Yes ​@@Bell_plejdo568p

[@jannegrey593]

I haven't watched video yet, but comments are talking about "Pearl Industry video". Which I did watch. And honestly I like it, because it's a bit different, but kind of different that this channel talks about non-stop.

[@aidanstarke8303]

Loved that video. How could I not click a title about diving for pearls.

[@SnowmanTF2]

I watched the pearl industry video

[@aldenluna6118]

me too.

[@alexcheng1560]

I liked it

[@anonymous.youtuber]

You’re not the only one ! I 👀 all his videos ! How could he say that 🥹

[@T3hderk87]

Same here!

[@jupiter909]

Ditto... 👌🏼

[@anthonyanth8368]

The pearl industry video is one of my all time favorite asianometry video. What are you talking about.

[@szurketaltos2693]

Too bad Global Foundries couldn't figure out how to keep shrinking. Would have been nice to have another player on par with Intel at least if not Samsung.

[@-gg8342]

They had tech to shrink, it's just too expensive to compete.

[@Longlius]

They could probably figure it out. They started work on 7nm back in the mid-2010s. The problem is that there's not a lot of business below 12nm and the business isn't high-margin enough to justify the investment for a company as in the red as GF. It was better for them to abandon 7nm and just dominate 12nm and above.

[@Conservator.]

Ever heard of TSMC?

[@szurketaltos2693]

@@Conservator. Not mentioned because it was never possible in any close world to catch up to TSMC.

[@szurketaltos2693]

@@Longlius according to GF themselves, customers are starting to leave for sub 10nm nodes. I suspect that's their higher margin customers.

[@hanswichmann5047]

I watched the pearls vid & loved it!

[@Michael_Brock]

I watched pearl video.

[@-gg8342]

I didn't hear any drilling and I'm on great headphones.

[@andersjjensen]

Likewise.

[@Raivo_K]

I only heard it faintly when he mentioned it. Had he not, then likely i would have not noticed.

[@billhanna2148]

yeah he REALLY needs to ease up on himself ...just a little!

[@michaelmoorrees3585]

I'm an old deaf boomer, didn't notice it at all.

[@benf1111]

Why do fabs move to environments where water is scarce? I've always wondered why Phoenix was a fab destination.

[@jyy9624]

Because it's like Oregon or Austin or Armonk

[@oldones59]

I agree. Data centers and AI consume a huge amount of energy and use water for cooling. The same may be true for FABS.

[@john_in_phoenix]

Arizona has always drawn less than allocated from the Colorado River. California has always drawn more, and California has earthquakes that will really mess with production from your fab. Intel and Motorola (now On semiconductor) made sure that Phoenix has a trained workforce.

[@jrmac1757]

Most of the water is recycled The net use isn't that high. Almost all of Arizona's water is used for growing feed stock for cattle - the lawns, golf courses, etc are nothing in comparison

[@gus473]

Water there is not as scarce as one might guess. Heck, there's even plenty for the Palo Verde power generation plant. ᕙ⁠(⁠ ⁠~⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠~⁠ ⁠)⁠ᕗ

[@mafrali2k]

Hey, I watched too the pearl video! Great video, Btw...

[@timothyvaher2421]

No drilling heard in Seattle! A very educational video, Asianometry!

[@gth042]

I seem to be the only one who hasn't watched your pearl video -- yet. Thank you for your work and semiconductor insights! 😄

[@oadka]

Fantastic video as always. Your narration and style of videography is very calming.

[@mattbland2380]

How about manufacturing solar panels? A large market for power and they’ve plenty of sun and sand for refining into silicon. The first step on the road to producing more solicited semiconductors. Much simpler technology and will ramp up very quickly, allow for commercial success and grow a local talent base. I’d also add battery tech. The support supply chain can be added a little at a time as a technology manufacturing base grows over time.

[@daddust]

How about the fossil fuel bandit states don’t want solar to succeed and if one of them sponsors solar, Saudi Arabia will invade them with a Pakistani mercenary army.

[@OffGridInvestor]

They need a lot of natural gas to do it which they could, but they don't just put AVERAGE SAND into chip making. The most important thing? Employees that can follow instruction and are smart and educated. Have YOU ACTUALLY BEEN there and SEEN the quality of employees there? They're BEYOND stupid. My brother-in-law wanted to get shorts. Preferably red. They had a pair that was far too small, wouldn't fit. But they were red! The shop employee repeated this LIKE 3 TIMES like he was STILL going to buy shorts that DIDN'T FIT just because they were red! Then there's the case of the military who had to clean up their dorm. They called maintenance because the fridge wasn't working. They had it plugged into a quad adapter. They had plugged the quad adapter INTO ITSELF and couldn't work out WHY the power wasn't still on. Like I was saying, the people are beyond stupid there in MANY cases.

[@interrobangings]

​@@OffGridInvestorIt's just typical Muslim brainrot

[@Coillcara]

@@mattbland2380 I don't think there is a a lot of margin in manufacturing of solar panels, nor there is much R&D effort required.

[@mattbland2380]

@@Coillcara it’s still a beginning to kickstart local high tech industry and will actually be useful locally instead of buying from China.

[@williambehan7681]

Thank you for a succinct history of the company I work for. I have been wondering for a while how it all played out and this video did a pretty great job of explaining it.

[@lgl_137noname6]

What drilling ? I did not hear anything.

[@gth042]

I wonder if it was his sense of humor about Abu Dhabi's economic future. 🤔 I wouldn't put it past him 😁

[@luipaardprint]

I watched your pearl video and thoroughly enjoyed it!

[@nobodynever7884]

I watched your Japanese cultured pearls video and enjoyed it quite a bit.

[@superprogrammer5226]

The pearl industry video was wild though

[@deaconblue949]

I watched that pearl video and enjoyed it. So I can understand why the USA wants to build cutting-edge fabs for economic and strategic policies given the tense relationship with China. But after watching many of your videos I understand how very difficult it is to make the newest generations of chips. Why the UAE would want to try to get into that business is beyond me. They need to import ALL of the labor and technical support to build and operate the fab and the chance of failure is high not to mention the cost and availability of the equipment. And of course the water issue. It might be a source of national pride to undertake such a project but there are other options out there with a better chance of success without turning into a financial black hole.

[@doctorpatient519]

good to see Bob Dobbs is still online

[@heinzb8219]

It also is not easy to make money if you skip the cutting-edge stuff. Running a semi fab you have to put up with fast technological changes, massive investments and fierce competition. Add to that the huge fixed costs of running a fab means you need to utilize the capacity at full to earn enough to invest into new machinery again and again. SIZE matters in this game. And little mistakes can ruin your balance sheet for a long time.

[@deserthorsedude]

Excellent video with imbedded humor. I worked at Intel during this period and it was interesting to hear the strategy and plan execution story of the competition...

[@makut4154]

Bedouins are good for consuming, not producing.

[@gregdobbs2577]

hey now, I watched the pearl episode!!!

[@Trainskitsetc]

I watched the cultured pearls video 😢

[@rogersmith258]

Wait, but I saw the Pearl Industry video, it was an excellent video. It gave me ideas for a sci-fi plotline funnily enough.

[@randomvariable1836]

Excellent video, as always.

[@moeluv]

Lets build a Fab in the middle of the desert...syke.

[@ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx]

It was BS from day one too many patents and trade secrets

[@CarsMeetsBikes]

I mean the sand is right there, that’s all you need right?!??

[@cholasimmons]

These are advanced countries they can do whatever they want and not coz they have money but also brains 👌

[@nolga3569]

@@cholasimmons UAE imports brains just like everything else.

[@titanicisshit1647]

@@cholasimmons not really the only thing abu dhabi has is money , it was probably meant to be a publicity stunt more than eanything

[@locusgaudi]

I still don't understand who was supposed to work at those fabs. Skilled personnel to operate them is one of the biggest challenges in the industry -- everyone is reporting talent scarcity, from TSMC to Intel and in between. Intel is planning to build a fab in Magdeburg and everyone keeps wondering where they are going to find workforce despite Germany being a developed country that has a high-quality education system. UAE has only a few fledgling universities. Even more importantly, the tight discipline and frankly backbreaking work that is involved in running a successful semiconductor manufacturing plant would not be very appealing to native UAE citizens used to cushy government provided jobs or subsidies. They would have to import the entirety of the workforce from somewhere else. At this point it's not clear to me what is the point of building a fab on your soil vs investing in the one abroad. It seems to me GlobalFoundries execs knew that all along and were simply dangling the fab in front of the sheikhs nose to milk their wallets. More or less the same is happening now in Saudia -- see the "Line" debacle.

[@MichelMohr]

I watched the pearls video! I immediately knew what you meant because of that video!

[@hmbast]

You can buy books but you can’t buy knowledge!

[@ariakingstrom6212]

The end of the pearl diving industry was actually my introduction to the channel, so even if nobody really watched it at least got you some new long-time viewers

[@ntabile]

Well, you nailed it like an insider of GF. It's not wise to put up a fab in Abu Dhabi due to the factors you mentioned in the video.

[@pocki892]

I watched your perling video when it came out :)

[@jasonh6262]

I watched your pearl video. I'm just catching up. I spent the last ten days in NYC, Jersey, and NE PA.

[@ntabile]

Speaking of Intel, they can't catch up with TSMC and Samsung. In order to catch up, they have to retrench 15K employees as per recent news.

[@andersjjensen]

Samsung's best high volume node is about on par with Intel's (don't let the marketing names fool you). It's TSMC that's the hard nut to crack for Intel.

[@leyasep5919]

@@andersjjensen Why compete when you can be a customer ? 🙂 that's Gelsinger's recent strategy, if I understand correctly.

[@tomstech4390]

@@andersjjensen Yeah the names might be off but samsung fabs work, even intel don't wanna use their nodes.

[@andersjjensen]

@@tomstech4390 Samsung produces their high end mobile phone chips on TSMC too....

[@everydaydose7779]

Why would Intel want to use Samsung? Samsung's Exynos GPU is using AMD RDNA and Google's Tensor chips are made by Samsung Some Snapdragons were also produced by Samsung fabs

[@PaulTheadra]

Watched the pearl episode, are you happy now? It was amazingly informative, it's always the episodes that seem unassuming that hit the hardest

[@geographicaloddity2]

I hate to hear that about your pearl industry video. How has you video on Swiss watches been doing? I didn't comment, but i enjoyed it.

[@stevengill1736]

There's some things that money just can't buy.... Darn, every time I hear Abu Dhabi I think of that film where Jim Carrey sings the Abu Dabi song playing congas...

[@Saadlolwhy]

As someone who lives in Abu Dhabi and deals with market research, there's another simple reason why it didn't work out - water. Chips fabs consume millions of gallons of ultra pure water which isn't something you're gonna find too easily in the Gulf.

[@AdityaMehendale]

"...that nobody watched". Hey! I watched that one...

[@lakrids-pibe]

I, for one, enjoyed the pearl diving videos.

[@kenth151]

I think you just mentioned the pearl video to increase views. I saw it originally and enjoyed it. Of course I like all your stuff.

[@Gersberms]

Hey, I resent that. Don't call me nobody 😥 It was very interesting.

[@androidrandom9979]

The Pearl episode was one of your finest non-silicone episodes. Don't doubt yourself.

[@Dylang01]

"That nobody watched" I watch it. I watched the pearl video.

[@Conservator.]

0:57 I did 🤓

[@nixietubes]

Same, was very good

[@Nosirrbro]

Same

[@waziammm]

I watched the pearl industry video, it was memorably great!

[@joshuacheung6518]

Meanwhile, me trying to get my coworkers to not use the same password across multiple different sites and devices...

[@Bankosek]

Liked the pearl video a lot!

[@OffGridInvestor]

Abu Dhabi/Dubai/UAE is a RENOWNED gateway for SHADY companies, a lot of mercenary headquarters are based there and they are known to be where the taliban and other Afghan warlords go to get satellite phones sorted. They're like Switzerland in many ways, banking is even more open, money laundering via real estate is COMMON. This would be a great conduit for Chinese to get technology BANNED by the US chip ban.

[@MarkoKraguljac]

Lets not pretend. The US is the giant hub of it all, left and right, east and west. Not all powerful but central.

[@imnothere6906]

Not true, I have watched the pearl video and thought that it was fascinating!

[@cpt_bill366]

They really put the "I can't" in Communicant.

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

The arabs should just focus on making solar panels locally and cover their sand with power generating solar panels. It will allow them to sell more of their oil.

[@belkacemF]

solar panels aren't that easy and not in the middle of the sand

[@Hansengineering]

You can write a script for three years from now today: "Abu Dhabi spends $10B to NOT get an AI chip fab" as the bubble pops before ground can be broken.

[@supremebeme]

i'd like to see a video on the LA oil rigs along the coast , long beach etc back in the day. the whole place had oil rigs

[@sean_vikoren]

another great look through your telescope

[@yogiwp_]

Fine, I'm watching the pearl video

[@REOsama]

I hope they do build it afterall, more competition is always better

[@WalterBurton]

Another hand up for the pearl video. ✋

[@daddust]

Fabs are among the most difficult investments available to humanity, probably more complicated than a space station. They’re a thousand times too complex for a resource exploiting zero knowledge instant gratification regime. Abu Dhabi will instead build golf courses and ski slopes in the desert using Pakistani managers, Bangladeshi slaves and German engineers.

[@sudeepmitra]

❤

[@rakadus]

​@@sudeepmitraAnd Indian managers!

[@erolc82]

Why being so hateful -- at least, they're trying! And that what matters!

[@daddust]

@@erolc82 no they’re not trying because they’re lazy genocidal tribal bandit billionaires

[@randomuser6306]

Well, they've got oil and sand. What would you do differently? Instant gratification? They've built up from a 50% infant mortality to having Cleveland Clinic there. How clueless you are.

[@perstofferjensen]

Pearl video was awesome

[@john-carl2054]

I watched your pearl video ❤️

[@Jason-fm4my]

The pearl diving video was good though😢

[@behzadutube]

It's easy to buy a product with cash, but hard to buy technology with cash...

[@wewillrockyou1986]

Terrific missed opportunity, if they had doubled down and coughed up the money, they could have had a fab and a lot of lucrative supporting industry. They had the money but instead chose to spend it on frivolous endeavours like sports, airlines, and random road projects it could never benefit from. It's too late now, there's a lot more competition over who gets the fabs, and the other players are closer partners with the manufacturers and more eager to put money on the table.

[@bernadmanny]

I did, I watched the Pearl Industry video.

[@jairo8746]

Just for the record, I did watch that other video, and i thought it was pretty nice like they usually are.

[@NW-ek6ff]

Israel and AIPAC wouldn’t allow it. This is the real reason

[@4ickyy]

Shady hand always at play

[@Mrobot90000]

Isn’t UAE friends with Israel

[@NW-ek6ff]

@@Mrobot90000 no UAE are their slaves. And the slave can never have the same powers of the master

[@mr.afrikaans1747]

Love this. About as realistic as The Line.

[@user-cz9jf1ec8s]

Walk up to any person and read the text in the thumbnail. They’ll think you’re speaking gibberish.

[@miguelaraujo1313]

Come on man, everyone watched the pearl video. What are you on about 😂

[@j562gee0hdeewestsdegethemuLa]

Couldn’t or wouldn’t

[@Buconoir]

So now i gotta watch some pearl video

[@oli24yt]

I watched the pearls video! I thought it was neat

[@st.john_one]

i'm watching every episode. also about pearls. cheers!

[@GavinM161]

I watched it! Fascinating.

[@gabrielafolabi3327]

lol you had to put out it that nobody watched the pearl video

[@robertpearson8546]

Imagine the cost of a resonant tunnel diode threshold logic fab vs the 1965 CMOS fab. The speed power product is 100,000 times better than CMOS, but tolerances are measured in atoms.

[@AlexDXB]

Funny when he talks about Abu Dhabi and shows Dubai

[@aowen2471]

About to say the same🤣