The US is worried China could have a top-spec chipmaking machine despite export restrictions, but the machine maker ASML denies it

The Dutch company ASML is the only company to make the world's most advanced chipmaking machines. Those machines have only ever gone to US or US-friendly companies such as TSMC, Intel, Samsung, and so on. The Chinese chipmaking market hasn't had access to them—perhaps until now, that is.

According to the US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, there are concerns that one of ASML's best machines might have made its way into China (via Bloomberg). Those are, reportedly, concerns that Lutnick has raised to the company's senior leaders in private meetings.

ASML, however, denies this, saying that none of its EUV machines—extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, which use high-frequency light to trace circuits onto silicon wafers—are in China.

Bloomberg's anonymous senior US administration officials say they have evidence that ASML isn't being completely truthful here; evidence such as, f...