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. appears decided to win, which is why this context is price taking note of: 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 manner out of workplace that by no means got here to fruition.
Right here’s a take a look at what’s occurred to this point in 2025.
August
Nvidia stories document quarter
August 27: The turmoil within the semiconductor market this yr has clearly not damage Nvidia. On August 27, the corporate reported that it had document gross sales within the second quarter. The highlights have been the expansion of its knowledge heart enterprise, which noticed its income develop 56% yr over yr.
U.S. Authorities takes fairness stake in Intel
August 22: The U.S. authorities introduced it was changing present authorities grants into a ten% stake in Intel. The deal was structured to penalize Intel if the corporate’s possession in its foundry program dropped under 50%.
SoftBank takes a stake in Intel
August 18: Japanese conglomerate SoftBank introduced it was taking a $2 billion stake in Intel. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son known as the deal “strategic.” The transaction was introduced as rumors have been swirling that the U.S. was going to take a stake within the firm.
Chip corporations strike a deal to promote in China
August 12: Nvidia and AMD introduced that they struck a take care of the U.S. authorities to achieve the required license to promote their AI chips in China. Each corporations agreed to pay the U.S. authorities 15% of income from their chip gross sales in China.
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Trump and Lip-Bu Tan meet
August 11: Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan went to the White Home to satisfy with President Donald Trump. The pair talked about Tan’s previous and the way Intel can assist the U.S. with its objective of bringing semiconductor manufacturing again to the U.S. Each known as the dialog productive.
Trump comes for Lip-Bu Tan
August 7: President Donald Trump demanded that Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan “resign instantly” as a result of “conflicts of curiosity” in a Fact Social submit. Whereas Trump didn’t make clear what the conflicts of curiosity have been, this got here the day after Republican Senator Tom Cotton despatched a letter to Intel’s board of administrators inquiring about Tan’s ties to China.
Trump says tariffs are coming for the business
August 5: President Donald Trump advised CNBC’s Squawk Field that he was planning to announce tariffs on the semiconductor business as quickly as the next week. On the time, he didn’t point out specifics on what these tariffs may appear like. As of September 5, no tariffs have been introduced for this business.
July
Intel spins out enterprise unit
July 25: Simply sooner or later after its second-quarter earnings name, Intel confirmed that it was spinning out its Community and Edge group, which is accountable for making chips for the telecom business. The enterprise unit produced $5.8 billion in income for the semiconductor firm in 2024.
Intel continues to search for effectivity
July 24: Intel introduced that it was pulling again on a few of its manufacturing operations. The corporate will not pursue its beforehand 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 staff.
Trump’s AI Motion Plan
July 23: The Trump administration unveiled its much-anticipated AI Motion Plan alongside a number of associated government orders. Whereas the plan features a lot concerning the necessity for U.S. chip export controls and for the U.S. to coordinate with its allies on this effort, it doesn’t present any concrete data on what these restrictions would appear like.
Groundbreaking UAE AI deal reportedly on maintain
July 17: The Trump administration helped foster a groundbreaking deal in Might that resulted in a dedication from the United Arab Emirates to purchase billions of {dollars}’ price of AI chips from Nvidia. However now that deal is reportedly on maintain because the U.S. works via nationwide safety considerations and fears that these chips may very well be smuggled from the Center East to China.
Nvidia is a bargaining chip
July 16: A day after semiconductor companies like Nvidia and AMD bought the inexperienced mild to renew promoting sure AI chips to China, we came upon why. U.S. Commerce Safety Howard Lutnick stated the plans to permit U.S. corporations to start out promoting AI chips in China are tied to ongoing commerce discussions between the U.S. and China concerning uncommon earth parts.
U.S. chips head again to China
July 14: Nvidia stated it was submitting an utility to restart gross sales of H20 AI chips in China, confirming rumors from a couple of weeks prior. The corporate additionally introduced that it might be promoting a brand new chip, the RTX Professional, which was designed particularly for the Chinese language market.
Malaysia fights chip smuggling
July 14: Malaysia introduced that it was launching commerce permits for U.S.-made AI chips. Below this new restriction, any particular person or enterprise would wish to offer the Malaysian authorities 30 days’ discover earlier than exporting any U.S. AI chips.
June
Intel appoints new management
June 18: Intel introduced 4 new management appointments that Intel says will assist it transfer towards its objective of turning 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 get rid of at the very 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 stated he desires to flatten the group.
Nvidia gained’t report on China
June 13: Nvidia isn’t relying on the U.S. backing off from 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 stated the corporate will not embody the Chinese language market in future income and revenue forecasts.
AMD acquires the workforce behind Untether AI
June 6: AMD makes one other acquisition — this time centered on expertise. The corporate acqui-hired the workforce behind Untether AI, which develops AI inference chips, because the semiconductor large continues to spherical out its AI choices.
AMD is coming for Nvidia’s AI {hardware} dominance
June 4: AMD continued its procuring spree. The corporate acquired AI software program optimization startup Brium, which helps corporations 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 influence 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 mild photons to transmit knowledge, is turning 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. steerage, issued on Might 13, that warned U.S. corporations that utilizing Huawei’s AI chips “anyplace on the planet” was a U.S. chip export violation. The commerce secretary issued a press release that threatened authorized motion in opposition to anybody caught imposing that export restriction.
Intel could also be beginning to offload its non-core items
Might 20: Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan seemingly bought proper to work on his plan to spin out Intel’s non-core enterprise items. The semiconductor large is reportedly trying to offload its Networking and Edge items, which make chips for telecom gear, and have been accountable 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 stated 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 anyplace on the 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 unique path. In line with a number of media shops, together with Axios and Bloomberg, the administration gained’t implement the restrictions after they have been supposed to start out on Might 15 and is as an alternative working by itself framework.
April
Anthropic doubles down on its assist of chip export restrictions
April 30: Anthropic doubled down on its assist for proscribing 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 deal with innovation and rise to the problem, slightly than inform tall tales that giant, heavy, and delicate electronics are one way or the other smuggled in ‘child bumps’ or ‘alongside dwell lobsters.’”
Deliberate layoffs at Intel
April 22: Forward of its Q1 earnings name, Intel stated it was planning to put off greater than 21,000 staff. The layoffs have been meant to streamline administration, one thing CEO Lip-Bu Tan has lengthy stated 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 bought 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 yr. The H20 is essentially the most superior AI chip Nvidia can nonetheless export to China in some kind or vogue. TSMC and Intel reported comparable bills the identical week.
Nvidia seems to speak its manner 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 keeping with stories. On the time, NPR reported Huang could have been capable of 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 verify. If this deal doesn’t come to fruition, that is doubtless an honest preview of potential offers on this business to return.
Intel spins off non-core belongings, declares 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 non-core belongings so it may focus. He additionally stated the corporate would launch new merchandise, together with customized semiconductors for purchasers.
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 stated Intel could 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 start out working its first chip fabrication plant in Ohio this yr. As a substitute, the corporate slowed down building on the plant for the second time in February. Now the $28 billion semiconductor venture gained’t wrap up building 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 have 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 triggered 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 triggered 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 will be exported to every nation. Below 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 bought 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 present AI chip export controls and pointing to them as a purpose why China’s AI market was behind the U.S. He additionally known 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.
This story was initially revealed on Might 9, 2025, and is often up to date with new data.
