Gelsinger Joins xLight, Plans to Bring TSMC into U.S. Domestic Lithography Project
Taylor Wilson
Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has joined startup xLight as executive chairman, leading an effort to challenge ASML's EUV lithography monopoly. The company is seeking $350 million in new funding and plans to invite TSMC, Intel, and Micron to invest — this means the US is trying to crack open ASML's sole-supplier position starting from the hardest component: the light source.
What is xLight actually trying to build?
Founded in 2021, xLight's core bet is replacing the light-source module inside today's EUV lithography systems with a free-electron laser (FEL) — a device that generates light using a high-speed electron beam.
In plain terms = it is not building an entire lithography machine. It is attacking the single hardest part — the source that produces extreme-ultraviolet light at a 13.5 nm wavelength.
The first prototype is under development in Albany, New York, with a 2028 completion target.
This means → even in the best case, technical validation is at least two years away, and production-ready replacement further still.
Where is the money coming from?
Government track: The Trump administration committed up to $150 million to xLight in December 2025 — the first CHIPS and Science Act investment of Trump's second term. The funds arrived in early June 2026; the Commerce Department received equity and became xLight's largest shareholder.
Industry track: xLight is now raising $350 million in a new round, seeking participation from ASML, TSMC, Intel, and Micron.
Combined, the two tranches would bring total funding to roughly $550 million, the largest raise since the company's founding. xLight has also signed non-binding loan agreements totaling up to $4.2 billion to support seven production facilities.
Why did Gelsinger pick this company?
Gelsinger told *Wired* that after leaving Intel he held nearly 100 meetings in about 100 days before choosing xLight.
His logic: the most effective path to reducing dependence on ASML is advancing lithography technology itself, not working around it.
This reflects a growing industry consensus — rather than manoeuvring within the existing supply chain, open a second route at the source-technology level.
Why is ASML's monopoly a problem?
ASML is currently the only company in the world that can supply the EUV lithography machines required for advanced chip production. Each machine costs hundreds of millions of dollars.
This means → any shift in ASML's capacity or any country's export-control policy can directly reshape the global semiconductor supply map.
In plain terms = the entire advanced-chip supply chain has a single supplier at the lithography node. That is a structural single-point-of-failure risk.
Why is TSMC's participation the key signal?
Whether TSMC ultimately takes a stake will be the decisive test of whether xLight can evolve from a government-backed project into a industry-grade technology pathway.
This means → if TSMC — the world's largest advanced-chip foundry — is willing to bet on this route, it signals that the industry sees real technical viability in FEL light sources, not just a policy-driven concept.
Conversely, if TSMC stays out, xLight's path to commercialisation faces significantly greater uncertainty.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.