It’s already 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. appears decided to win, which is why this context is price listening to: from Intel’s appointment of Lip-Bu Tan to CEO — who wasted no time attending to work attempting to revitalize the legacy firm — to Joe Biden proposing sweeping new AI chip export guidelines on his means out of workplace that by no means got here to fruition.
Right here’s a have 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 aim 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 now not embrace the Chinese language market in future income and revenue forecasts.
AMD acquires the crew behind Untether AI
June 6 – AMD makes one other acquisition — this time centered on expertise. The corporate acqui-hired the crew 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 corporations retrofit AI software program to work with completely different AI {hardware}. With a number 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 costs throughout Q1. The corporate expects these necessities to end in 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 knowledge, is changing into an growing space of curiosity for semiconductor corporations.
Tensions begin to flare between China and the U.S.
Might 21 – China’s Commerce Secretary didn’t just like the U.S.’s steerage, issued on Might 13, that warned U.S. corporations that utilizing Huawei’s AI chips “wherever on the earth” was a U.S. chip export violation. The commerce secretary issued an announcement that threatened authorized motion towards anybody caught imposing that export restriction.
Intel could also be beginning to offload its non-core models
Might 20 – Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan seemingly obtained proper to work on his plan to spin out Intel’s non-core enterprise models. The semiconductor big is reportedly seeking to offload its networking and edge models, which makes chips for telecom tools, and was liable for $5.4 billion of the corporate’s 2024 income.
The Biden administration’s AI Diffusion rule is formally useless
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 problem new steerage sooner or later, and within the meantime corporations ought to do not forget that utilizing Huawei’s Ascend AI chips wherever on the earth 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 distinct path. In keeping with a number of media retailers, together with Axios and Bloomberg, the administration received’t implement the restrictions after they had been supposed to begin on Might 15 and is as a substitute working by itself framework.
April
Anthropic doubles down on its help of chip export restrictions
April 30: Anthropic doubled down on its help 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 assets to enforcement. An Nvidia spokesperson shot again, saying, “American companies ought to deal with innovation and rise to the problem, slightly than inform tall tales that giant, 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 workers. 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 obtained hit with an export licensing requirement, the corporate disclosed in an SEC submitting. The corporate added it expects $5.5 billion in costs associated to this new requirement within the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal yr. The H20 is probably the most superior AI chip Nvidia can nonetheless export to China in some kind or trend. TSMC and Intel reported comparable bills the identical week.
Nvidia seems to speak its means 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 response to 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 spend money on AI knowledge 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 amenities, and TSMC would have a 20% stake within the new enterprise. Each corporations declined to remark or affirm. If this deal doesn’t come to fruition, that is doubtless an honest preview of potential offers on this business to come back.
Intel spins off noncore belongings, pronounces new initiative
April 1: CEO Lip-Bu Tan set to work 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 patrons.
March
Intel names a brand new CEO
March 12: Intel introduced that business 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 can be an “engineering-focused firm” underneath his management.
February
Intel’s Ohio chip plant will get delayed once more
February 28: Intel was supposed to begin working its first chip fabrication plant in Ohio this yr. As an alternative, the corporate slowed down development on the plant for the second time in February. Now the $28 billion semiconductor challenge received’t wrap up development till 2030 and should 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 about 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 about continues to have ripple results on the chip business.
Joe Biden’s government 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 might be exported to every nation. Underneath 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 obtained 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 Avenue Journal endorsing current AI chip export controls and pointing to them as a cause 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 corporations in China to nonetheless get their fingers on these chips.
