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It’s already been a tumultuous 12 months for the U.S. semiconductor trade.
The semiconductor trade performs a large position within the “AI race” that the U.S. appears decided to win, which is why this context is price being attentive to: from Intel’s appointment of Lip-Bu Tan to CEO — who wasted no time attending to work making an attempt to revitalize the legacy firm — to Joe Biden proposing sweeping new AI chip export guidelines on his method out of workplace that by no means got here to fruition.
Right here’s a take a look at what’s occurred within the first half of 2025.
June
Intel appoints new management
June 18 – Intel introduced 4 new management appointments that Intel says will assist it transfer towards its objective of changing into an engineering-first firm once more. Intel introduced a brand new chief income officer along with a number of high-profile engineering hires.
Intel to start layoffs
June 17 – Intel will start to put off a big chunk of its Intel Foundry employees in July. The corporate plans to eradicate at the least 15%, and as much as 20%, of staff in that enterprise unit. These layoffs aren’t a shock: It was rumored again in April, and Intel’s CEO Lip-Bu Tan has mentioned he needs to flatten the group.
Nvidia received’t report on China
June 13 – Nvidia isn’t relying on the U.S. backing off of its AI chip export restrictions anytime quickly. After the corporate took a monetary hit from the newly imposed licensing necessities on its H20 AI chips, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang mentioned the corporate will not embody the Chinese language market in future income and revenue forecasts.
AMD acquires the staff behind Untether AI
June 6 – AMD makes one other acquisition — this time targeted on expertise. The corporate acqui-hired the staff behind Untether AI, which develops AI inference chips, because the semiconductor big continues to spherical out its AI choices.
AMD is coming for Nvidia’s AI {hardware} dominance
June 4 – AMD continued its purchasing spree. The corporate acquired AI software program optimization startup Brium, which helps firms retrofit AI software program to work with totally different AI {hardware}. With lots of AI software program being designed with Nvidia {hardware} in thoughts, this acquisition isn’t stunning.
Might
Nvidia lays out the affect of chip export restrictions
Might 28 – Nvidia reported that U.S. licensing necessities on its H20 AI chips value the corporate $4.5 billion in expenses throughout Q1. The corporate expects these necessities to lead to an $8 billion hit to Nvidia’s income in Q2.
AMD acquires Enosemi
Might 28 – AMD kicks off its acquisition spree. The semiconductor firm introduced that it acquired Enosemi, a silicon photonics startup. Enosemi’s tech, which makes use of gentle photons to transmit information, is changing into an growing space of curiosity for semiconductor firms.
Tensions begin to flare between China and the U.S.
Might 21 – China’s Commerce Secretary didn’t just like the U.S.’s steering, issued on Might 13, that warned U.S. firms that utilizing Huawei’s AI chips “wherever on this planet” was a U.S. chip export violation. The commerce secretary issued an announcement that threatened authorized motion towards anybody caught implementing that export restriction.
Intel could also be beginning to offload its non-core items
Might 20 – Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan seemingly received proper to work on his plan to spin out Intel’s non-core enterprise items. The semiconductor big is reportedly seeking to offload its networking and edge items, which makes chips for telecom gear, and was liable for $5.4 billion of the corporate’s 2024 income.
The Biden administration’s AI Diffusion rule is formally lifeless
Might 13 – Simply days earlier than the Biden administration’s Synthetic Intelligence Diffusion Rule was set to enter place, the U.S. Division of Commerce formally rescinded it. The DOC mentioned that it plans to challenge new steering sooner or later, and within the meantime firms ought to do not forget that utilizing Huawei’s Ascend AI chips wherever on this planet is a violation of U.S. export guidelines.
A final-minute reversal
Might 7: Only a week earlier than the “Framework for Synthetic Intelligence Diffusion” was set to enter place, the Trump administration plans on taking a special path. In response to a number of media shops, together with Axios and Bloomberg, the administration received’t implement the restrictions after they had been supposed to start out on Might 15 and is as a substitute working by itself framework.
April
Anthropic doubles down on its assist of chip export restrictions
April 30: Anthropic doubled down on its assist for limiting U.S.-made chip exports, together with some tweaks to the Framework for Synthetic Intelligence Diffusion, like imposing additional restrictions on Tier 2 international locations and dedicating sources to enforcement. An Nvidia spokesperson shot again, saying, “American companies ought to give attention to innovation and rise to the problem, fairly than inform tall tales that enormous, heavy, and delicate electronics are in some way smuggled in ‘child bumps’ or ‘alongside stay lobsters.’”
Deliberate layoffs at Intel
April 22: Forward of its Q1 earnings name, Intel mentioned it was planning to put off greater than 21,000 staff. The layoffs had been meant to streamline administration, one thing CEO Lip-Bu Tan has lengthy mentioned Intel wanted to do, and assist rebuild the corporate’s engineering focus.
The Trump administration additional restricts chip exports
April 15: Nvidia’s H20 AI chip received hit with an export licensing requirement, the corporate disclosed in an SEC submitting. The corporate added it expects $5.5 billion in expenses associated to this new requirement within the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal 12 months. The H20 is essentially the most superior AI chip Nvidia can nonetheless export to China in some type or trend. TSMC and Intel reported related bills the identical week.
Nvidia seems to speak its method out of additional chip exports
April 9: Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang was noticed attending dinner at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, in line with experiences. On the time, NPR reported Huang could have been in a position to spare Nvidia’s H20 AI chips from export restrictions upon agreeing to put money into AI information facilities within the U.S.
An alleged settlement between Intel and TSMC
April 3: Intel and TSMC allegedly reached a tentative settlement to launch a joint chipmaking enterprise. This three way partnership would function Intel’s chipmaking services, and TSMC would have a 20% stake within the new enterprise. Each firms declined to remark or affirm. If this deal doesn’t come to fruition, that is seemingly an honest preview of potential offers on this trade to come back.
Intel spins off noncore belongings, pronounces new initiative
April 1: CEO Lip-Bu Tan started working instantly. Simply weeks after he joined Intel, the corporate introduced that it was going to spin off noncore belongings so it may focus. He additionally mentioned the corporate would launch new merchandise, together with customized semiconductors for purchasers.
March
Intel names a brand new CEO
March 12: Intel introduced that trade veteran, and former board member, Lip-Bu Tan would return to the corporate as CEO on March 18. On the time of his appointment, Tan mentioned Intel could be an “engineering-focused firm” below his management.
February
Intel’s Ohio chip plant will get delayed once more
February 28: Intel was supposed to start out working its first chip fabrication plant in Ohio this 12 months. As an alternative, the corporate slowed down development on the plant for the second time in February. Now the $28 billion semiconductor venture received’t wrap up development till 2030 and will not even open till 2031.
Senators name for extra chip export restrictions
February 3: U.S. senators, together with Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo), wrote a letter to Commerce Secretary Nominee-Designate Howard Lutnick urging the Trump administration to additional prohibit AI chip exports. The letter particularly referred to Nvidia’s H20 AI chips, which had been used within the coaching of DeepSeek’s R1 “reasoning” mannequin.
January
DeepSeek releases its open “reasoning” mannequin
January 27: Chinese language AI startup DeepSeek brought on fairly the stir in Silicon Valley when it launched the open model of its R1 “reasoning” mannequin. Whereas this isn’t semiconductor information particularly, the sheer alarm within the AI and semiconductor industries DeepSeek’s launch brought on continues to have ripple results on the chip trade.
Joe Biden’s govt order on chip exports
January 13: With only a week left in workplace, former president Joe Biden proposed sweeping new export restrictions on U.S.-made AI chips. This order created a three-tier construction that decided what number of U.S. chips may be exported to every nation. Beneath this proposal, Tier 1 international locations confronted no restrictions; Tier 2 international locations had a chip buy restrict for the primary time; and Tier 3 international locations received extra restrictions.
Anthropic’s Dario Amodei weighs in on chip export restrictions
January 6: Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei co-wrote an op-ed in The Wall Road Journal endorsing present AI chip export controls and pointing to them as a purpose why China’s AI market was behind the U.S.’. He additionally referred to as on incoming president Donald Trump to impose additional restrictions and to shut loopholes which have allowed AI firms in China to nonetheless get their palms on these chips.
