Semiconductors & AI Chips Weekly Briefing

April 3, 2026

Semiconductor giants are expanding global manufacturing and AI partnerships while navigating rising competition in China and capacity shortages.

• Nvidia deepened its infrastructure ecosystem through a $2 billion investment in Marvell Technology and new partnerships with Coupang, ServiceNow, and NXP Semiconductors, while reporting record-breaking inference performance for its Blackwell and Grace Hopper chips. ^123456789
• Despite its global dominance, Nvidia is facing significant pressure in China, where local GPU and AI chipmakers captured approximately 41% of the AI accelerator server market in 2025, eroding Nvidia's share to 55%. ¹⁰¹¹¹²
• TSMC is reportedly facing a severe 3nm capacity shortage as its fabs are sold out through 2028, leading the company to plan a massive 'GigaFab' expansion in Arizona and launch 3nm production in Japan to meet global demand. ^1314151617
• Intel advanced its manufacturing and legal strategies by naming Aparna Bawa as chief legal and people officer, repurchasing a $14.2 billion stake in its Ireland fab joint venture, and investing in the chip startup SambaNova. ^1819202122
• Samsung and SK hynix are significantly increasing their capital expenditures and investments in China and Texas for AI substrates and memory production, despite ongoing labor tensions and potential strike risks at Samsung Electronics. ^232425262728
• AMD and Qualcomm both delivered day-zero support for Google's Gemma 4 models, while AMD further demonstrated its AI competitiveness by showcasing its Instinct MI355X accelerator achieving over 1 million tokens per second. ^2930313233
• Other developments include a U.S. bill to ban key AI chipmaking equipment exports to China, ASML demonstrating a path to 1,000W EUV light sources, and legal challenges involving federal smuggling charges against a Super Micro co-founder. ^343536373839

Sources

1. Nvidia's US$2b Marvell Stake Expands AI Data Center And Telecom Reach finance.yahoo.com
2. Coupang Nvidia AI Factory Puts Logistics Efficiency And Margins In Focus finance.yahoo.com
3. NVIDIA GH200 achieves record single-digit microsecond latency Nvidia
4. ServiceNow (NOW) Expands Partnership With NVIDIA finance.yahoo.com
5. NVIDIA sets new MLPerf Inference v6.0 records Nvidia
6. NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) Announces Collaboration with Nvidia on Robotics Solutions finance.yahoo.com
7. This Nvidia Partner's Stock Is Soaring on a New Deal With the AI Chip Leader and $2 Billion Investment investopedia.com
8. NVIDIA partners with Marvell via NVLink Fusion Nvidia
9. Marvell partners with NVIDIA on NVLink Fusion Marvell Technology
10. A market Nvidia once owned is slipping away fast finance.yahoo.com
11. Nvidia Faces Rising Pressure in China AI Market gurufocus.com
12. IDC: Chinese GPU and AI chipmakers captured ~41% of China's AI server market in 2025, significantly eroding Nvidia's share, which stood at 55% with ~2.2M cards techmeme.com
13. TSMC Plans Massive 'GigaFab' Expansion in Arizona to Match Taiwan Output onmsft.com
14. Yomiuri: TSMC Set to Manufacture 3nm Semiconductors in Japan marketwatch.com
15. TSMC's fabs are so in demand, they're sold out even before they've been built finance.yahoo.com
16. TSMC plans 3-nanometre chip production launch in Japan in 2028 reuters.com
17. TSMC faces broad 3nm capacity shortage, fueling supply chain battle technode.com
18. Intel taps Zoom COO Aparna Bawa to lead legal and culture overhaul bizjournals.com
19. Intel names Aparna Bawa chief legal and people officer Intel
20. Intel buyback signals shift beyond austerity as chipmaker regains confidence digitimes.com
21. Exclusive: Intel looks to put millions more into SambaNova startup chaired by CEO Tan reuters.com
22. Intel repurchases 49% equity interest in Ireland Fab joint venture Intel
23. Memory giants' China investments soar in 2025: Samsung Xi'an up 67%, SK hynix Wuxi, Dalian hit trillion-won dqindia.com
24. Samsung Electro-Mechanics pours W1tr into AI substrates as demand exceeds capacity by 50% koreaherald.com
25. Samsung Electronics, SK hynix rebound on eased Middle East concerns pulse.mk.co.kr
26. The wage negotiations between Samsung Electronics' labor and management are crippling again, raising.. mk.co.kr
27. Samsung ramps Texas fab as engineers gather for 2nm push digitimes.com
28. KOSPI Operating Profit Last Year Rose 25%, But Turned to Deficit When Excluding Samsung, SK Hynix businesskorea.co.kr
29. AMD provides Day 0 support for Gemma 4 models AMD
30. Qualcomm delivers Gemma 4 early to developers Qualcomm
31. AMD Instinct MI355X Breaks 1M Tokens Per Second in MLPerf guru3d.com
32. AMD submits MI355X results to MLPerf Inference v6.0 AMD
33. AMD announces Advancing AI 2026 event for July tweaktown.com
34. Bill to ban sale of key AI chipmaking equipment to China introduced in House nbcnews.com
35. ASML demonstrates path to 1,000W EUV light source ASML
36. CFO of local tech firm fourth executive to be charged in Nvidia chips probe straitstimes.com
37. Nvidia Willfully Infringed 6 Patents With AI Tech, Suit Says - Law360 law360.com
38. Super Micro co-founder Yih-Shyan Liaw pleads not guilty to US federal charges of helping smuggle billions of dollars' worth of Nvidia-powered servers to China techmeme.com
39. TSMC industrial espionage saga heading to verdict next month in unprecedented Taiwan National Security Act case — former engineer accused of stealing 2nm technical info, faces a total of up to 20 years in prison if found guilty tomshardware.com