So, it's the mirrors. Freakishly accurate-to-an-atom-width mirrors are one big reason your modern GPU is so damned expensive

Profiteering, the AI boom, latterly the looming threat of tariffs—there are a lot of reasons why computer chips have become so expensive. But you probably wouldn't have guessed another major reason is mirrors. More specifically, the insanely perfect mirrors inside the latest EUV lithography machines used to manufacture the most advanced chips.

That's according to YouTube channel Asianometry, which has done a deep dive into the incredible engineering of the mirrors used in advanced chip manufacturing. The latest machines from ASML, as used by TSMC for its most advanced N4 and N3 chip production processes and Intel for its Intel 7 and 4 nodes, rely on extreme ultra-violet light 13.5 nm in wavelength.