Tim Cook ‘slept with one eye open’ after classified CIA briefing on Taiwan
Source: 9to5Mac
Apple CEO Tim Cook’s CIA briefing on Taiwan
Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly told officials that he slept “with one eye open” after attending a classified CIA briefing on Taiwan, home to the company’s chipmaker TSMC.
US intelligence agencies have been worried for years that China may plan to invade the island, and the briefing warned that this could happen as early as next year. China claims ownership over Taiwan and has conducted military exercises that included practicing a full‑scale blockade of the island, leading to fears of an invasion.
We suggested in 2022 that the lackluster global response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was likely to embolden China. US and UK security services gave the same warning a few months later.
Fears grew particularly intense after a series of events in 2023, which led to a previously unreported CIA briefing attended by Tim Cook and two other tech CEOs. The New York Times reports that the US government was trying to persuade Apple to purchase chips from within the US and South Korea instead of from TSMC.
Frustrated, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo asked CIA Director William J. Burns and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to give a classified briefing with the latest intelligence about China and Taiwan, said five people familiar with the briefing.
Briefing in July 2023
In July 2023, three prominent chief executives entered a secure briefing room in Silicon Valley:
- Tim Cook (Apple)
- Jensen Huang (Nvidia)
- Lisa Su (AMD)
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon joined by video.
They listened as Burns and Haines said China’s military spending could mean a move on Taiwan in 2027. Afterward, Cook told officials that he slept “with one eye open.”
9to5Mac’s Take
The prospect that China could invade Taiwan and seize control of TSMC is a very real one. The company has even made plans to remotely disable its chip‑fabrication machines in the event of an invasion.
The problem for Apple is that there is nowhere else it can have its most sophisticated chips made: TSMC reserves its most advanced processes for plants on its home soil of Taiwan. Apple does have other fabrication plants around the world, including those in Arizona, but they lag behind the smallest chip processes needed for the latest Apple products.
The risk is substantial, but there’s little Apple can do about it, no matter how hard the US administration may press.