ASML is now working with both TSMC and Samsung on the next generation of chipmaking gear, a win for ASML and a sign that the AI chip race is getting more expensive to compete in.

• Samsung and ASML are deepening their long-term work on High-NA EUV machines, the tools that print the smallest circuits on chips.
• The same day, TSMC and ASML announced their own deal to move the industry from 6-inch to 12-inch photomasks, with a trial line targeted before 2031.
• Samsung will help build the next-generation 12-inch mask platform, which should make production simpler and more efficient.
• Samsung wants High-NA EUV for future DRAM, aiming to defend its lead in high-bandwidth memory, a core piece of AI data centers.
• ASML remains the only company in the world that can sell EUV machines, so every leading chipmaker has to go through it.

Outlook: Expect ASML to keep pricing power as Samsung, TSMC, and Intel all bid for the same scarce High-NA tools over the next few years.