New Delhi, Dec. 20 -- The year 2025 began with China's artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek shaking the technology world by unveiling powerful models that reportedly rivalled ChatGPT and Google Gemini at a fraction of the cost.

As the year draws to a close, it appears to be ending on a similar note, with Beijing claiming a breakthrough in another critical technology-one that underpins AI itself.

China has developed a prototype extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine-capable of producing cutting-edge semiconductor chips-inside a high-security laboratory in Shenzhen, southern China, according to a Reuters report.

The massive, factory-sized system has reportedly been dubbed China's "Manhattan Project", a reference to the t...