Semiconductors & AI Chips Weekly Briefing

December 12, 2025

Trump eased Nvidia chip exports to China, TSMC's US investment could hit $200B, Samsung launched a tri-fold phone, and Broadcom reported strong growth and more.

• President Trump reversed export restrictions, allowing Nvidia to sell H200 AI chips to approved customers in China, drawing sharp criticism regarding national security risks and prompting Nvidia to build location verification technology. ^{1234567891011}
• Broadcom delivered upbeat Q4 and full-year financial results fueled by AI deals and increased its dividend, even as a cloud industry lobby claimed EU antitrust regulators erred in clearing its VMware acquisition. ^{121314151617181920}
• Samsung unveiled its triple-folding Galaxy Z TriFold smartphone and secured a major LFP battery contract for energy storage systems in the US; meanwhile, SK Hynix adjusted its HBM and DRAM capacity strategies amidst large-scale investment plans that require massive power infrastructure. ^{21222324252627282930}
• TSMC's potential US investment could exceed $200 billion, while the company faced increasing geopolitical scrutiny over cybersecurity, trade secret risks, and plans for 4nm expansion in Japan. ^{3132333435363738394041424344}
• Intel pledged major investments in India's semiconductor mission but also faced lawsuits alleging (along with AMD) willful ignorance regarding chips used in Russian missiles, while Intel CEO's dual role as a venture capitalist drew internal concern. ^{454647484950515253}
• AMD introduced new enterprise AI GPUs and claimed its MI300X outperformed NVIDIA H100 in LLM inference throughput; simultaneously, Marvell ramped up data center scaling with its Golden Cable initiative and Qualcomm acquired Ventana Micro to strengthen its custom RISC-V CPU expertise. ^{54555657585960616263}

Sources

1. Exclusive: Intel has tested chipmaking tools from firm with sanctioned China unit, sources say reuters.com
2. Nvidia’s Strategic Pivot: Navigating New China Trade Rules and Market Headwinds newscase.com
3. SK Hynix reaps largest benefits from H200 export approval digitimes.com
4. Nvidia chips will boost China’s military, Republicans warn theaustralian.com.au
5. That Trump is now easing export restrictions for China will lead to astonishment at ASML volkskrant.nl
6. NVIDIA’s H200 wins approval but its entry into China remains uncertain technode.com
7. Nvidia builds location verification tech that could help fight chip smuggling reuters.com
8. Trump's Nvidia Chip Deal Reverses Decades of Technology Restrictions nytimes.com
9. US Justice Department Accuses Two Chinese Men of Trying to Smuggle Nvidia Chips usnews.com
10. How Trump’s U-Turn on Nvidia Chips Changes the Game for China’s AI finance.yahoo.com
11. Trump gives Nvidia green light to sell advanced AI chips to China bbc.co.uk
12. Broadcom Gives Upbeat Forecast After AI Deals Fuel Growth bloomberg.com
13. Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) Delivers Impressive Q3, Inventory Levels Improve finance.yahoo.com
14. EU antitrust regulators erred in clearing Broadcom s VMware deal, cloud industry lobby says reuters.com
15. Broadcom announces Q4 and FY 2025 financial results Broadcom
16. With Ansys Acquisition Closed, Wide-Moat Synopsys Focuses on Being a Systems Design Company morningstar.com
17. Synopsys reports record year Synopsys
18. Synopsys reports Q4 and FY25 financial results Synopsys
19. Synopsys and NVIDIA Announce $2 Billion Partnership theglobeandmail.com
20. Synopsys posts record fiscal year 2025 financial results Synopsys
21. Samsung Electronics officially released the Galaxy Z TriFold, which folds twice at 10 a.m. on the 12.. mk.co.kr
22. As semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix announced large-scale investment.. mk.co.kr
23. [Exclusive] SK hynix Establishes 'AI Team' in Manufacturing Technology Division... Accelerating Transition to AI Fab mk.co.kr
24. Samsung SDI wins LFP battery deal in U.S. mkbn.mk.co.kr
25. '3GW Power Needed in Yongin'—Will Samsung and SK's Dilemma Be Resolved? en.infomaxai.com
26. Samsung SDI wins major ESS lithium battery contract donga.com
27. Galaxy Z TriFold: Samsung unveils smartphone with a screen that folds in three jpost.com
28. SK Hynix pivots to general-purpose DRAM with tenfold 1c capacity surge digitimes.com
29. Short memory supply forces Micron to abandon consumer market, prioritize enterprise networkworld.com
30. SK Hynix Slows Down HBM4 Ramp, Prepares 300+ Layer NAND Flash techpowerup.com
31. TSMC's U.S. investment could top US$200 billion: Lutnick focustaiwan.tw
32. TSMC Arizona celebrates first technician apprentice class graduation TSMC
33. TSMC may shift to 4-nm production at second Japan plant - Nikkei Asia seekingalpha.com
34. Intel and AMD accused of allowing chips in Russian missiles japantimes.co.jp
35. Intel, AMD Accused of Failing to Block Chips in Russian Missiles bloomberg.com
36. Does the Job of C.E.O. or Private Investor Come First? Intel's Chief Is Juggling That Question. nytimes.com
37. EU court cuts Intel s EU antitrust fine reuters.com
38. TSMC: China's Tech Independence Ambitions Create Serious Risks seekingalpha.com
39. Taiwan Invokes National Security Law to Protect TSMC Trade Secrets nytimes.com
40. Intel trims more South Bay jobs as chip maker seeks to steady the ship mercurynews.com
41. ASML under fire for selling DUV equipment to Chinese firm with military ties, says the machines are not subject to export controls — fears grow that 'old technology' will ... finance.yahoo.com
42. Intel rallies behind India's Semiconductor Mission, CEO says 'young talent to build tech-driven future' financialexpress.com
43. Accountability research ASML-export to China nos.nl
44. Tata, Intel deepen India semiconductor push with pact on chip supply chain and AI PCs cnbc.com
45. Model builders rely on NVIDIA infrastructure Nvidia
46. AMD Launches Radeon AI Pro R9700S and R9600D GPUs for Enterprise AI guru3d.com
47. AMD accelerates llama.cpp on Instinct MI300X AMD
48. NVIDIA H100 GPUs achieve record Graph500 benchmark Nvidia
49. Marvell CEO Matt Murphy discusses quarterly results on CNBC Marvell Technology
50. Marvell launches Golden Cable initiative Marvell Technology
51. Marvell Technology Launches Initiative to Speed AEC Deployment marketwatch.com
52. Marvell Unveils Adoption Of New Chips Designed To Speed Up AI Data Centers benzinga.com
53. Marvell announces adoption of PCIe retimers by AI infrastructure providers Marvell Technology
54. Arm powers Rivian's third-generation autonomy platform Arm
55. Qualcomm launches Snapdragon Ride Flex Qualcomm
56. Qualcomm collaborates with CP Plus on AI video intelligence Qualcomm
57. Cadence showcases eUSB2V2 demo at CES Cadence
58. Qualcomm buys RISC-V specialist Ventana Micro heise.de
59. Cadence collaborates with Arm on software-defined vehicles Cadence
60. Qualcomm acquires Ventana Micro Systems Qualcomm
61. AMD Introduces EPYC Embedded 2005 Series for Industrial and Edge Systems guru3d.com
62. Qualcomm buys Taiwan’s Augentix to bolster edge AI surveillance solutions portfolio telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com
63. AMD introduces EPYC Embedded 2005 Series processors AMD