It’s been a tumultuous yr for the U.S. semiconductor business.
The semiconductor business performs a large function within the “AI race” that the U.S. turns out made up our minds to win, which is why this context is value being attentive to: from Intel’s appointment of Lip-Bu Tan to CEO — who wasted no time attending to paintings seeking to revitalize the legacy corporate — to Joe Biden proposing sweeping new AI chip export laws on his means out of place of job that by no means got here to fruition.
Right here’s a take a look at what’s came about thus far in 2025.
July
Intel continues to search for potency
July 24: Intel introduced that that it was once pulling again on a few of its production operations. The corporate will not pursue its prior to now introduced initiatives in Germany and Poland, and is consolidating its check operations. Intel additionally introduced it plans to finish this yr with round 75,000 workers.
Trump’s AI Motion Plan
July 23: The Trump management unveiled its much-anticipated AI Motion Plan along more than one similar govt orders. Whilst the plan features a lot in regards to the want for U.S. chip export controls, and for the U.S. to coordinate with its allies in this effort, it doesn’t supply any concrete data on what those restrictions would appear to be.
Groundbreaking UAE AI deal reportedly on cling
July 17: The Trump management helped foster a groundbreaking deal in Might that ended in a dedication from the United Arab Emirates to shop for billions of bucks value of AI chips from Nvidia. However now that deal is reportedly on cling because the U.S. works via nationwide safety considerations and fears that the ones chips may well be smuggled from the Center East to China.
Nvidia is a bargaining chip
July 16: An afternoon after semiconductor companies like Nvidia and AMD were given the golf green gentle to renew promoting sure AI chips to China we discovered why. U.S. Trade Safety Howard Lutnick mentioned the plans to permit U.S. corporations to begin promoting AI chips in China is tied to ongoing business discussions between the U.S. and China relating to uncommon earth components.
Techcrunch tournament
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
U.S. Chips head again to China
July 14: Nvidia mentioned it was once submitting an software to restart gross sales of H20 AI chips in China, confirming rumors from a couple of weeks prior. The corporate additionally introduced that it will be promoting a brand new chip, the RTX Professional, which was once designed particularly for the Chinese language marketplace.
Malaysia fights chip smuggling
July 14: Malaysia introduced that it was once launching business lets in for U.S.-made AI chips. Underneath this new restriction, someone or industry would wish to give the Malaysian govt 30 days realize prior to exporting any U.S. AI chips.
June
Intel appoints new management
June 18: Intel introduced 4 new management appointments that Intel says will lend a hand it transfer towards its objective of turning into an engineering-first corporate once more. Intel introduced a brand new leader income officer along with more than one high-profile engineering hires.
Intel to start layoffs
June 17: Intel will start to lay off a vital chew of its Intel Foundry workforce in July. The corporate plans to do away with a minimum of 15%, and as much as 20%, of employees in that industry unit. Those layoffs aren’t a surprise: It was once rumored again in April, and Intel’s CEO Lip-Bu Tan has mentioned he desires to flatten the group.
Nvidia gained’t record on China
June 13: Nvidia isn’t counting at 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 come with the Chinese language marketplace in long run income and benefit forecasts.
AMD acquires the group in the back of Untether AI
June 6: AMD makes any other acquisition — this time taken with ability. The corporate acqui-hired the group in the back of Untether AI, which develops AI inference chips, because the semiconductor massive continues to spherical out its AI choices.
AMD is coming for Nvidia’s AI {hardware} dominance
June 4: AMD endured its buying groceries spree. The corporate bought AI device optimization startup Brium, which is helping corporations retrofit AI device to paintings with other AI {hardware}. With numerous AI device being designed with Nvidia {hardware} in thoughts, this acquisition isn’t unexpected.
Might
Nvidia lays out the have an effect on 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 fees right through Q1. The corporate expects those 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 corporate introduced that it bought Enosemi, a silicon photonics startup. Enosemi’s tech, which makes use of gentle photons to transmit information, is turning into an expanding house of passion for semiconductor corporations.
Tensions begin to flare between China and the U.S.
Might 21: China’s Trade Secretary didn’t just like the U.S.’s steerage, issued on Might 13, that warned U.S. corporations that the use of Huawei’s AI chips “anyplace on the earth” was once a U.S. chip export violation. The trade secretary issued a commentary that threatened prison motion in opposition to somebody stuck imposing that export restriction.
Intel could also be beginning to offload its non-core devices
Might 20: Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reputedly were given proper to paintings on his plan to spin out Intel’s non-core industry devices. The semiconductor massive is reportedly having a look to offload its networking and edge devices, which makes chips for telecom apparatus, and was once chargeable for $5.4 billion of the corporate’s 2024 income.
The Biden management’s AI Diffusion rule is formally lifeless
Might 13: Simply days prior to the Biden management’s Synthetic Intelligence Diffusion Rule was once set to enter position, the U.S. Division of Trade officially rescinded it. The DOC mentioned that it plans to factor new steerage someday, and within the period in-between corporations will have to take into account that the use of Huawei’s Ascend AI chips anyplace on the earth is a contravention of U.S. export laws.
A final-minute reversal
Might 7: Only a week prior to the “Framework for Synthetic Intelligence Diffusion” was once set to enter position, the Trump management plans on taking a special trail. In keeping with more than one media retailers, together with Axios and Bloomberg, the management gained’t implement the limitations once they had been meant to begin on Might 15 and is as a substitute running by itself framework.
April
Anthropic doubles down on its strengthen of chip export restrictions
April 30: Anthropic doubled down on its strengthen for proscribing U.S.-made chip exports, together with some tweaks to the Framework for Synthetic Intelligence Diffusion, like implementing additional restrictions on Tier 2 nations and dedicating assets to enforcement. An Nvidia spokesperson shot again, pronouncing, “American companies will have to focal point on innovation and upward thrust to the problem, quite than inform tall stories that enormous, heavy, and delicate electronics are come what may smuggled in ‘child bumps’ or ‘along are living lobsters.’”
Deliberate layoffs at Intel
April 22: Forward of its Q1 income name, Intel mentioned it was once making plans to put off greater than 21,000 workers. The layoffs had been supposed to streamline control, one thing CEO Lip-Bu Tan has lengthy mentioned Intel had to do, and lend a hand rebuild the corporate’s engineering focal point.
The Trump management additional restricts chip exports
April 15: Nvidia’s H20 AI chip were given hit with an export licensing requirement, the corporate disclosed in an SEC submitting. The corporate added it expects $5.5 billion in fees associated with this new requirement within the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal yr. The H20 is essentially the most complex AI chip Nvidia can nonetheless export to China in some shape or model. TSMC and Intel reported an identical bills the similar week.
Nvidia seems to speak its means out of additional chip exports
April 9: Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang was once noticed attending dinner at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago hotel, in keeping with stories. On the time, NPR reported Huang could have been ready to spare Nvidia’s H20 AI chips from export restrictions upon agreeing to spend money on 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 release a joint chipmaking mission. This three way partnership would function Intel’s chipmaking amenities, and TSMC would have a 20% stake within the new mission. Each corporations declined to remark or verify. If this deal doesn’t come to fruition, that is most probably a good preview of attainable offers on this business to come back.
Intel spins off noncore belongings, pronounces new initiative
April 1: CEO Lip-Bu Tan started working in an instant. Simply weeks after he joined Intel, the corporate introduced that it was once going to spin off noncore belongings so it would focal point. He additionally mentioned the corporate would release new merchandise, together with customized semiconductors for patrons.
March
Intel names a brand new CEO
March 12: Intel introduced that business veteran, and previous board member, Lip-Bu Tan would go back to the corporate as CEO on March 18. On the time of his appointment, Tan mentioned Intel can be an “engineering-focused corporate” below his management.
February
Intel’s Ohio chip plant will get not on time once more
February 28: Intel was once meant to begin running its first chip fabrication plant in Ohio this yr. As a substitute, the corporate bogged down building at the plant for the second one time in February. Now the $28 billion semiconductor challenge gained’t wrap up building till 2030 and would possibly 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 Trade Secretary Nominee-Designate Howard Lutnick urging the Trump management to additional limit AI chip exports. The letter particularly referred to Nvidia’s H20 AI chips, which have been used within the coaching of DeepSeek’s R1 “reasoning” style.
January
DeepSeek releases its open “reasoning” style
January 27: Chinese language AI startup DeepSeek brought about slightly the stir in Silicon Valley when it launched the open model of its R1 “reasoning” style. Whilst this isn’t semiconductor information particularly, the sheer alarm within the AI and semiconductor industries DeepSeek’s liberate brought about continues to have ripple results at the chip business.
Joe Biden’s govt order on chip exports
January 13: With only a week left in place of job, former president Joe Biden proposed sweeping new export restrictions on U.S.-made AI chips. This order created a three-tier construction that made up our minds what number of U.S. chips will also be exported to every nation. Underneath this proposal, Tier 1 nations confronted no restrictions; Tier 2 nations had a chip acquire restrict for the primary time; and Tier 3 nations were given further 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 Boulevard Magazine endorsing present AI chip export controls and pointing to them as a reason China’s AI marketplace was once in the back of the U.S.’. He also referred to as on incoming president Donald Trump to impose additional restrictions and to near loopholes that experience allowed AI corporations in China to nonetheless get their palms on those chips.
This tale in the beginning revealed Might 9, 2025, and is incessantly up to date with new data.
