How did that come to be? The US used to be the world leader in chip manufacturing and that wasn't all that long ago. Why was something so critical given away so freely?

It was not given away - it was won by the Taiwanese, who bet on the fabless-foundry business model and executed magnificently.

I’m no expert but I believe it’s because Taiwan bet heavily on a process known as Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV).

The US companies cough Intel cough did not. Which is part of the reason they are laying off workers