Final 12 months was a tumultuous one for the U.S. semiconductor trade.
From management adjustments at legacy corporations to repeatedly altering dialogue round AI chip export controls, lots has occurred. If the primary few weeks of 2026, which noticed new chip tariffs and worldwide semiconductor offers, are any indicator — this 12 months will likely be as surprising because the final.
However earlier than we get too deep into 2026, here’s a ultimate have a look at every little thing that occurred within the U.S. semiconductor trade in 2025:
December
Nvidia finds gold with Groq
December 24: Nvidia introduced that it struck a non-exclusive licensing cope with chip maker Groq. Whereas this wasn’t an acquisition, Nvidia employed Groq’s founder and president, along with different workers. The corporate additionally purchased $20 billion value of Groq’s belongings.
Chips to China
December 8: The U.S. Division of Commerce determined that Nvidia and AMD can ship AI chips to China in spite of everything, a stark reversal to previous messaging. The U.S. authorities particularly stated Nvidia may promote its H200 chips, that are way more superior than its H20 chips, to permitted prospects.
November
Nvidia retains climbing
November 19: Nvidia reported report ends in its third-quarter earnings report. The corporate racked up $57 billion in income in Q3, a 66% enhance over the identical quarter in 2024. A big portion of that income got here from Nvidia’s information middle enterprise.
October
Intel makes processor progress
October 9: Intel introduced a brand new processor, dubbed Panther Lake, that’s a part of the corporate’s Intel Core Extremely processor household. This would be the first one constructed on the corporate’s 18A semiconductor course of and will likely be completely made at Intel’s Arizona fab manufacturing unit.
Techcrunch occasion
San Francisco
|
October 13-15, 2026
September
A style of tariffs
September 26: We bought the primary inkling of what the Trump administration’s semiconductor tariffs may appear to be on the finish of September. Rumors began swirling that the administration would require semiconductor corporations to provide the identical quantity of chips domestically as they do internationally, or they’d in any other case be topic to tariffs.
China shuts out Nvidia
September 17: China’s marketing campaign towards Nvidia continued when the nation informed its home corporations to not purchase Nvidia’s chips. The Our on-line world Administration of China banned native corporations from shopping for Nvidia’s chips in an effort to spice up home chip gross sales.
China calls out Nvidia
September 15: Regardless of being given a free inexperienced gentle to start out promoting chips once more in China, the method was not going to be easy crusing for Nvidia. China’s State Administration for Market Regulation dominated that Nvidia violated the nation’s antitrust laws concerning the corporate’s 2020 acquisition of Mellanox Applied sciences.
A management shakeup
September 9: Only a few brief weeks after the U.S. authorities took an fairness stake in Intel, the corporate made some notable management adjustments. Michelle Johnston Holthaus, the chief government officer of Intel merchandise, departed after three many years. The corporate additionally created a central engineering group.
August
Nvidia studies report quarter
August 27: The turmoil within the semiconductor market over the 12 months had clearly not harm Nvidia. On August 27, the corporate reported that it had report gross sales within the second quarter. The highlights have been the expansion of its information middle enterprise, which noticed its income develop 56% 12 months over 12 months.
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 beneath 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 referred to 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 cope with the U.S. authorities to achieve the required license to promote their AI chips in China. Each corporations agreed to pay the U.S. government 15% of revenue from their chip gross sales in China.
Trump and Lip-Bu Tan meet
August 11: Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan went to the White House to satisfy with President 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 referred to 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 publish. Whereas Trump didn’t make clear what the conflicts of curiosity have been, this got here the day after Republican Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel’s board of directors inquiring about Tan’s ties to China.
Trump says tariffs are coming for the trade
August 5: President Donald Trump informed CNBC’s Squawk Field that he was planning to announce tariffs on the semiconductor trade as quickly as the next week. On the time, he didn’t point out specifics on what these tariffs may appear to be. As of September 5, no tariffs have been introduced for this trade.
July
Intel spins out enterprise unit
July 25: Simply in the future 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 trade. 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 stated it’ll longer pursue its beforehand introduced initiatives in Germany and Poland and that it was consolidating its check operations. Intel additionally introduced it plans to finish this 12 months with round 75,000 workers.
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 included lots concerning the necessity for U.S. chip export controls and for the U.S. to coordinate with its allies on this effort, it didn’t present concrete info on what these restrictions would appear to be.
Groundbreaking UAE AI deal reportedly on maintain
July 17: The Trump administration helped foster a groundbreaking deal in Could that resulted in a dedication from the United Arab Emirates to purchase billions of {dollars}’ value of AI chips from Nvidia. However now that deal was reportedly on maintain because the U.S. labored by way of nationwide safety issues and fears that these chips could possibly be smuggled from the Center East to China.
Nvidia is a bargaining chip
July 16: A day after semiconductor corporations like Nvidia and AMD bought the inexperienced gentle 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 components.
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 just a few weeks prior. The corporate additionally introduced that it will 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 four new leadership appointments that Intel stated 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 started layoffs
June 17: Intel started shedding a big chunk of its Intel Foundry workers in July, in line with numerous media studies. The corporate later confirmed it was restructuring. Experiences stated it deliberate to eradicate 15% to twenty%, of staff in that enterprise unit. These layoffs weren’t a shock: Layoffs have been rumored again in April, and Intel’s CEO Lip-Bu Tan had stated he needs to flatten the group.
Nvidia gained’t report on China
June 13: Nvidia wasn’t relying on the U.S. backing off from its AI chip export restrictions. 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 acquired the workforce behind Untether AI
June 6: AMD made one other acquisition — this time targeted on expertise. The corporate acqui-hired the workforce 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 totally different AI {hardware}. With a variety of AI software program being designed with Nvidia {hardware} in thoughts, this acquisition isn’t stunning.
Could
Nvidia laid out the influence of chip export restrictions
Could 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 anticipated these necessities to lead to an $8 billion hit to Nvidia’s income in Q2.
AMD acquired Enosemi
Could 28: AMD kicked 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 rising space of curiosity for semiconductor corporations.
Tensions began to flare between China and the U.S.
Could 21: China’s Commerce Secretary didn’t just like the U.S. steerage, issued on Could 13, that warned U.S. corporations that utilizing Huawei’s AI chips “anyplace on the earth” was a U.S. chip export violation. The commerce secretary issued a press release that threatened authorized motion towards anybody caught imposing that export restriction.
Intel started the method to dump items
Could 20: Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan seemingly bought proper to work on his plan to spin out Intel’s non-core enterprise items. Again in Could, the semiconductor big was reportedly seeking to offload its Networking and Edge items, which make chips for telecom tools, and was accountable for $5.4 billion of the corporate’s 2024 income.
The Biden administration’s AI Diffusion rule was formally lifeless
Could 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 earth is a violation of U.S. export guidelines.
A final-minute reversal
Could 7: Only a week earlier than the “Framework for Synthetic Intelligence Diffusion” was set to enter place, the Trump administration deliberate on taking a unique path. In accordance with a number of media shops, together with Axios and Bloomberg, the administration wouldn’t implement the restrictions after they have been supposed to start out on Could 15 and is as an alternative 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 nations and dedicating assets to enforcement. An Nvidia spokesperson shot again, saying, “American corporations ought to concentrate on innovation and rise to the problem, reasonably 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 workers. 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 that it anticipated $5.5 billion in costs associated to this new requirement within the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal 12 months. The H20 was probably the most superior AI chip Nvidia can nonetheless export to China in some vogue. TSMC and Intel reported comparable 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 studies. 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 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 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 within the trade to return.
Intel warned it’ll spin off non-core belongings
April 1: CEO Lip-Bu Tan set to work immediately. 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 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 stated Intel can be an “engineering-focused firm” beneath 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 a substitute, the corporate slowed down building on the plant for the second time in February. Now the $28 billion semiconductor undertaking 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 further restrict 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 triggered continues to have ripple results on the chip trade.
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 nations confronted no restrictions; Tier 2 nations had a chip buy restrict for the primary time; and Tier 3 nations 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 Street Journal endorsing present 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 palms on these chips.
This story was initially revealed on Could 9, 2025, and is repeatedly up to date with new info.
