Semiconductors & AI Chips Weekly Briefing

December 19, 2025

NVIDIA partnered with SK hynix and secured Samsung's HBM4, Intel installed its first High-NA EUV system, and the US began reviewing NVIDIA's China chip sales, and more.

• NVIDIA continued strengthening its AI partnerships, co-developing an 'AI SSD' with SK hynix for high-performance AI workloads and securing Samsung as a potential supplier of next-generation SOCAMM2 and HBM4 memory. ^1234567
• The US government launched a review of advanced NVIDIA AI chip sales to China, while Intel and Republican lawmakers faced scrutiny over the testing of Chinese-linked tools and potential conflicts of interest regarding Intel's CEO. ^89101112
• Intel achieved a major lithography milestone by completing the acceptance testing of the industry's first commercial high-NA EUV system, with plans to use the technology for its 14A process node. ^13141516
• SK Hynix accelerated the expansion of its M15X memory chip plant, secured a state loan for HBM production, and became the first to receive Intel certification for its 256GB DDR5 RDIMM server memory. ^17181920
• NVIDIA launched the new RTX PRO 5000 72GB Blackwell GPU for accelerating local AI and announced plans to establish a large R&D campus in Israel, which is expected to create 10,000 jobs. ^21222324
• TSMC received approval for a major expansion in Phoenix, while separately committing to reducing supply chain emissions by adopting blue ammonia, and Samsung unveiled its latest Exynos 2600 2nm chipset with significantly improved AI performance. ^25262728
• Other notable developments include Qualcomm completing its acquisition of Alphawave Semi, AMD launching an AI Developer Program, and Micron reporting record quarterly results driven by AI demand. ^29303132

Sources

1. NVIDIA and SK hynix to introduce 'AI SSD' with 10x more performance in middle of DRAM crisis tweaktown.com
2. NVIDIA and SK hynix to introduce 'AI SSD' with 10x more performance in middle of DRAM crisis tweaktown.com
3. Samsung takes early lead in next-gen AI server memory with Nvidia koreaherald.com
4. Samsung Electronics Supplies 'Second HBM' SOCAM2 Samples to NVIDIA businesskorea.co.kr
5. SK hynix, Nvidia Jointly Developing SDDs For AI Inference: Report crn.com
6. Nvidia Partnership Fuels SK Hynix's Next Big AI Storage Bet benzinga.com
7. [Exclusive] Samsung Electronics' HBM4 Reportedly Enters NVIDIA's Final Qualification Test as Sole Vendor Among Global Memory Makers alphabiz.co.kr
8. US launches review of advanced Nvidia AI chip sales to China: sources businesstimes.com.sg
9. Republican lawmakers decry Intel s testing of Chinese-linked tools after Reuters report finance.yahoo.com
10. ...Jensen Huang s Trump Dinner And Ballroom Cash Bought The Nvidia CEO A Golden Ticket — AI Chip Sales To China (UPDATED... finance.yahoo.com
11. China Pushes Back Against Nvidia’s Advanced AI Chips techstory.in
12. Intel CEO deals spark controversy, debate finance.yahoo.com
13. Intel completes high-NA EUV validation for 14A, advances 2D transistor tech digitimes.com
14. Intel installs industry's first commercial High-NA EUV lithography tool — ASML Twinscan EXE:5200B sets the stage for 14A finance.yahoo.com
15. Intel Sets Chipmaking Milestone With First High NA EUV Tool For Next-Gen Chips hothardware.com
16. ASML’s Next-Generation Chipmaking Technology Reaches Critical Production Milestone newscase.com
17. SK Hynix accelerates US$15B M15X expansion as equipment move-in kicks off digitimes.com
18. SK hynix's new 256GB RDIMM server memory module passes Intel's tests, ready for Xeon 6 platform tweaktown.com
19. SK hynix completes Intel certification for 256GB DDR5 RDIMM SK hynix
20. SK Hynix taps US$340M state loan to ramp up HBM production digitimes.com
21. NVIDIA launches new NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 72GB Blackwell GPU tweaktown.com
22. NVIDIA launches RTX PRO 5000 72GB Blackwell GPU Nvidia
23. Nvidia picks Kiryat Tivon for large R&D campus, bringing tech jobs north timesofisrael.com
24. Nvidia announces new Israeli campus, plans for 10,000 employees i24news.tv
25. Phoenix council approved major TSMC expansion. Some residents say it's too close to home kjzz.org
26. Samsung Announces Exynos 2600 as World’s First 2nm Node Chipset for Flagship Galaxy Devices gadgets360.com
27. TSMC pioneers blue ammonia adoption TSMC
28. Samsung Electronics Unveils Latest Exynos 2600 AP—AI Performance Up 113% en.infomaxai.com
29. Qualcomm Completes Acquisition of Alphawave Semi apnews.com
30. Qualcomm completes acquisition of Alphawave Semi Qualcomm
31. AMD launches AI Developer Program AMD
32. Micron reports record Q1 fiscal 2026 results Micron