# Helium Is the New Oil: How the Strait of Hormuz Exposed the Semiconductor Industry’s Same Old Vulnerability

- slug: helium-is-the-new-oil-how-the-strait-of-hormuz-exposed-the-semiconductor-industrys-same-old-vuln
- date: 2026-04-23
- category: Space & Aerospace

Oil is the obvious Strait of Hormuz story. The more revealing one is helium: a gas chip fabs need, a third of which normally comes from Qatar, now turning a Gulf war into an AI infrastructure constraint.

---