From x-ray hype to AI black boxes, progress works best when curiosity is paired with caution.

Throughout history, our enthusiasm for new technology has often outpaced our ability to fully comprehend its risks. From the industrial revolution to the digital age, we have repeatedly embraced innovations with excitement while ignoring caution, sometimes overlooking potential hazards in our eagerness to advance. In healthcare, where technological breakthroughs promise transformative benefits, new capabilities can come with severe risks that demand careful scrutiny.

Under Foundry 2.0, the semiconductor value chain is moving back into strategic focus.

When Joni Mitchell recorded Big Yellow Taxi, singing “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,” she was reiterating the proverbial warning that we often appreciate things properly only after losing them. It’s an observation that transcends context and can be applied even in today’s electronics industry. For decades, Western companies have outsourced significant parts of their value chain to achieve cost-down and to focus on core competencies in pursuit of efficiency. Today’s geopolitical tensions are drawing attention to the loss of sovereignty that results from exporting control of critical processes like packaging and testing as part of the semiconductor value chain.