--- title: Christophe Fouquet: The 100 Most Influential People in AI 2024 description: Find out why Christophe Fouquet made TIME’s list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence. canonical: https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012708/christophe-fouquet/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-09-05T11:06:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T11:54:20.844Z article:section: Business og:title: TIME100 AI 2024: Christophe Fouquet og:description: Find out why Christophe Fouquet made TIME’s list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence og:url: https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012708/christophe-fouquet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7151cc9573c7391e/698a5aa0457a52697ad6aba1/NEW-TIME100-AI-2024-INNOVATORS_Christophe-Fouquet-NEW.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME100 AI 2024: Christophe Fouquet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: TIME100 AI 2024: Christophe Fouquet twitter:description: Find out why Christophe Fouquet made TIME’s list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7151cc9573c7391e/698a5aa0457a52697ad6aba1/NEW-TIME100-AI-2024-INNOVATORS_Christophe-Fouquet-NEW.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 05, 2024 # Christophe Fouquet by [Harry Booth](/author/harry-booth/) ## Harry Booth Booth is a reporter at TIME.  Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source: Peter Boer—Bloomberg/Getty Images) Without ASML, the world’s only producer of manufacturing equipment for cutting-edge semiconductors, the AI boom can't happen. That’s how Dutch giant ASML’s former CEO put it to [Bloomberg News](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-24/generative-ai-boom-can-t-happen-without-asml-says-ceo-wennink-lrrnlikc "undefined") in January. Normally, one can dismiss such comments from a chief executive as hyperbolic marketing speak. But in ASML’s case, they might be right. This spring, the company elevated Christophe Fouquet, its former chief business officer to the chief executive position. Fouquet is now responsible for overseeing how ASML responds to the growing demand for semiconductors. It is the only company in the world that builds the machines needed to produce the AI chips designed by heavyweights such as Nvidia. Its machines, which cost up to [$380 million each](https://www.wsj.com/tech/the-ceo-trapped-in-the-u-s-china-chip-battle-7340c949 "undefined"), are used by semiconductor manufacturers like Taiwan’s TSMC to etch unfathomably small patterns—measured in single-digit nano-meters—in pieces of silicon. Achieving this level of precision involves hitting tiny droplets of molten tin with lasers to emit extreme ultraviolet light, in a technique known as EUV lithography. Fouquet also has to navigate the company as it finds itself caught amidst growing U.S.-China tensions. Washington-led export restrictions imposed in January, aimed at curbing China’s access to advanced semiconductors, are expected to reduce the company’s sales in the country [by 15%](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-17/asml-orders-beat-estimates-as-ai-demand-fuels-chip-gear-giant?srnd=economics-v2 "undefined"), and the Biden administration is considering tighter controls. Fouquet has [previously stated](https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/ASML-says-decoupling-chip-supply-chain-is-practically-impossible "undefined") he believes decoupling the global semiconductor supply chain would be “incredibly expensive” if not impossible. He’s also [warned](https://www.wsj.com/tech/the-ceo-trapped-in-the-u-s-china-chip-battle-7340c949 "undefined") that cutting off China may only push the country to develop its own ASML-alternative. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012708/christophe-fouquet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012708/christophe-fouquet/"},"headline":"Christophe Fouquet","datePublished":"2024-09-05T11:06:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T11:54:20.844Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012708/christophe-fouquet/","keywords":["Tech"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7151cc9573c7391e/698a5aa0457a52697ad6aba1/NEW-TIME100-AI-2024-INNOVATORS_Christophe-Fouquet-NEW.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Harry Booth","jobTitle":"Booth is a reporter at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/harry-booth/"}],"creator":"Harry Booth","articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7151cc9573c7391e/698a5aa0457a52697ad6aba1/NEW-TIME100-AI-2024-INNOVATORS_Christophe-Fouquet-NEW.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2024/7012708/christophe-fouquet/","name":"Christophe Fouquet"}}]}] ```