John Lee on export controls
From OPTICA VIP RECEPTION KEYNOTE JOHN T.C. LEE, MKS Inc. Given Monday January 19th 2026, San Francisco. · · Jose Pozo CTO Optica Corporate Info Channel
“When the Biden administration came out with the first big semiconductor restrictions we couldn't sell to our Chinese customers' equipment OEMs, and out of our two billion in semiconductor revenue equipment about 15% went away.”
On , John Lee, President, Chief Executive Officer & Director at MKS INSTRUMENTS INC, spoke about export controls during OPTICA VIP RECEPTION KEYNOTE JOHN T.C. LEE, MKS Inc. Given Monday January 19th 2026, San Francisco. on Jose Pozo CTO Optica Corporate Info Channel.
About John Lee
At a January 2026 Optica VIP reception, Lee stated that semiconductor scaling alone is no longer sufficient for AI performance, which he said is now constrained by how chips are connected, powered, cooled, and packaged. He noted that MKS products are embedded in approximately 85% of wafer-fab equipment and 70% of critical advanced packaging and PCB steps. Lee also remarked that when the Biden administration introduced initial semiconductor restrictions, approximately 15% of MKS's semiconductor equipment revenue from Chinese customers was lost. In October 2024, Lee received the Pinnacle Award from the Asian American Business Development Center. In his acceptance speech, he described his background as a member of the "1.5 generation" — born in Taiwan and moving to the U.S. as a child — and argued that broadening the tent of diversity and inclusion is an essential leadership characteristic. He stated that MKS's revenue grew from $700 million to $3.5 billion during his 15-year tenure. In a separate keynote that month, Lee said advanced packaging is growing at 10% annually and is critical for continuing Moore's Law in the AI era, and that MKS addresses 70% of the steps in making advanced packages. In 2023, Lee discussed China's semiconductor self-reliance, arguing that China remains reliant on Western innovation and has not yet produced genuine domestic sources of non-incremental innovation.