I am not following the meaning of this thread. Fabs are already fully automated. Surely, no one is talking about automating construction. So what is left: maintenance, process, equipment engineering and yield. Some AI is indeed already in use to supplement process engineering but would anyone ...
China doesn't have (at least so far) the capabilities to manufacture the actual machinery (which is mostly made by European manufacturers) that can produce waffers with such advanced fab nodes and SMIC has been on same tech ban list as Huawei, meaning they can't buy said precise machinery...