\n<\/p>\n
Last year was a tumultuous one for the U.S. semiconductor industry.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
From leadership changes at legacy companies to continuously changing dialogue around AI chip export controls, a lot has happened.\u00a0If the first few weeks of 2026, which\u00a0saw\u00a0new chip\u00a0tariffs<\/a>\u00a0and international semiconductor deals<\/a>, are any indicator\u00a0\u2014 this\u00a0year will be as unexpected as the last.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But before we get too deep into 2026, here is a final look at everything that happened in the U.S. semiconductor industry in 2025:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n December 24:<\/strong> Nvidia announced that it\u00a0struck a non-exclusive licensing deal with chip maker\u00a0Groq<\/a>.\u00a0While this\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0an acquisition, Nvidia hired\u00a0Groq\u2019s\u00a0founder and president, in addition to other employees. The company also bought\u00a0$20 billion\u00a0worth of\u00a0Groq\u2019s\u00a0assets.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n December 8:<\/strong> The U.S. Department of Commerce decided that Nvidia\u00a0and AMD\u00a0can send\u00a0AI\u00a0chips to China after all, a stark reversal to past messaging. The U.S. government specifically said Nvidia\u00a0could sell its H200 chips<\/a>, which are much more advanced than its H20 chips, to approved customers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n November 19:<\/strong> Nvidia reported\u00a0record results\u00a0in its third-quarter\u00a0earnings report. The company\u00a0racked up\u00a0$57 billion\u00a0in revenue in Q3<\/a>, a 66% increase over the same quarter in 2024.\u00a0A\u00a0large portion\u00a0of that revenue came\u00a0from Nvidia\u2019s data center business.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n October 9:<\/strong> Intel announced\u00a0a new processor, dubbed Panther Lake<\/a>, that\u00a0is part of the company\u2019s Intel Core Ultra processor family. This\u00a0will be the first one built on the\u00a0company\u2019s\u00a018A semiconductor process\u00a0and will be\u00a0exclusively\u00a0made at Intel\u2019s Arizona\u00a0fab\u00a0factory.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco<\/span> September 26: <\/strong>We got the first\u00a0inkling of what the Trump administration\u2019s semiconductor tariffs could look like<\/a>\u00a0at the end of September.\u00a0Rumors started swirling that the administration would require semiconductor companies to produce the same volume of chips domestically as they do\u00a0internationally,\u00a0or they would otherwise be subject to tariffs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n September 17:<\/strong>\u00a0China\u2019s campaign against Nvidia continued when the country\u00a0told its domestic companies not to buy Nvidia\u2019s chips<\/a>. The Cyberspace Administration of China banned local companies from buying Nvidia\u2019s chips\u00a0in an effort to\u00a0boost domestic chip sales.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n September 15:<\/strong> Despite being given a loose green light to start selling chips again in China, the process was not going to be smooth sailing for Nvidia.\u00a0China\u2019s State Administration for Market Regulation ruled that\u00a0Nvidia violated the country\u2019s antitrust regulations<\/a>\u00a0regarding\u00a0the company\u2019s 2020 acquisition of\u00a0Mellanox Technologies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n September 9:<\/strong> Just a few short weeks after the U.S. government took an equity stake in Intel, the\u00a0company\u00a0made\u00a0some notable leadership changes<\/a>.\u00a0Michelle Johnston Holthaus, the chief executive officer of Intel products,\u00a0departed\u00a0after three decades. The company also created a central engineering group.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n August 27: <\/strong>The turmoil in the semiconductor market over the year had clearly not hurt Nvidia. On August 27, the company reported that it had record sales in the second quarter<\/a>. The highlights were the growth of its data center business, which saw its revenue grow 56% year over year.<\/p>\n August 22: <\/strong>The U.S. government announced it was converting existing government grants into a 10% stake in Intel<\/a>. The deal was structured to penalize Intel<\/a> if the company\u2019s ownership in its foundry program dropped below 50%.<\/p>\n August 18: <\/strong>Japanese conglomerate SoftBank announced it was taking a $2 billion stake in Intel<\/a>. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son called the deal \u201cstrategic.\u201d The transaction was announced as rumors were swirling that the U.S. was going to take a stake in the company.<\/p>\n August 12: <\/strong>Nvidia and AMD announced that they struck a deal with the U.S. government to gain the necessary license to sell their AI chips in China. Both companies agreed to pay the U.S. government 15% of revenue<\/a> from their chip sales in China.<\/p>\n August 11: <\/strong>Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan went to the White House<\/a> to meet with President Trump. The pair talked about Tan\u2019s past and how Intel can help the U.S. with its goal of bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S. Both called the conversation productive.<\/p>\n August 7: <\/strong>President Donald Trump demanded that Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan \u201cresign immediately\u201d<\/a> due to \u201cconflicts of interest\u201d in a Truth Social post. While Trump didn\u2019t clarify what the conflicts of interest were, this came the day after Republican Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel\u2019s board of directors<\/a> inquiring about Tan\u2019s ties to China.<\/p>\n August 5: <\/strong>President Donald Trump told CNBC\u2019s Squawk Box that he was planning to announce tariffs on the semiconductor industry<\/a> as soon as the following week. At the time, he didn\u2019t mention specifics on what these tariffs could look like. As of September 5, no tariffs have been announced for this industry.<\/p>\n July 25:<\/strong> Just one day after its second-quarter earnings call, Intel confirmed that it was spinning out its Network and Edge group<\/a>, which is responsible for making chips for the telecom industry. The business unit produced $5.8 billion in revenue for the semiconductor company in 2024.<\/p>\n July 24:<\/strong> Intel announced that it was pulling back on some of its manufacturing operations<\/a>. The company said it will longer pursue its previously announced projects in Germany and Poland and that it was consolidating its test operations. Intel also announced it plans to end this year with around 75,000 employees.<\/p>\n July 23:<\/strong> The Trump administration unveiled its much-anticipated AI Action Plan<\/a> alongside multiple related executive orders. While the plan included a lot regarding the need for U.S. chip export controls and for the U.S. to coordinate with its allies on this effort, it didn\u2019t provide concrete information on what those restrictions would look like.<\/p>\n July 17:<\/strong> The Trump administration helped foster a groundbreaking deal in May that resulted in a commitment from the United Arab Emirates to buy billions of dollars\u2019 worth of AI chips from Nvidia. But now that deal was reportedly on hold<\/a> as the U.S. worked through national security concerns and fears that those chips could be smuggled from the Middle East to China.<\/p>\n July 16:<\/strong> A day after semiconductor firms like Nvidia and AMD got the green light to resume selling certain AI chips to China, we found out why. U.S. Commerce Security Howard Lutnick said the plans to allow U.S. companies to start selling AI chips in China are tied to ongoing trade discussions<\/a> between the U.S. and China regarding rare earth elements.<\/p>\n July 14:<\/strong> Nvidia said it was filing an application to restart sales of H20 AI chips<\/a> in China, confirming rumors from a few weeks prior<\/a>. The company also announced that it would be selling a new chip, the RTX Pro, which was designed specifically for the Chinese market.<\/p>\n July 14:<\/strong> Malaysia announced that it was launching trade permits for U.S.-made AI chips<\/a>. Under this new restriction, any individual or business would need to give the Malaysian government 30 days\u2019 notice before exporting any U.S. AI chips.<\/p>\n June 18: <\/strong>Intel announced four new leadership appointments<\/a> that Intel said will help it move toward its goal of becoming an engineering-first company again. Intel announced a new chief revenue officer in addition to multiple high-profile engineering hires.<\/p>\n June 17: <\/strong>Intel began laying off a significant chunk of its Intel Foundry staff<\/a> in July, according to various media reports. The company later confirmed<\/a> it was restructuring. Reports said it planned to eliminate 15% to 20%, of workers in that business unit. These layoffs weren\u2019t a shock: Layoffs were rumored back in April, and Intel\u2019s CEO Lip-Bu Tan had said he wants to flatten the organization.<\/p>\n June 13: <\/strong>Nvidia wasn\u2019t counting on the U.S. backing off from its AI chip export restrictions. After the company took a financial hit from the newly imposed licensing requirements on its H20 AI chips, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company will no longer include the Chinese market<\/a> in future revenue and profit forecasts.<\/p>\n June 6: <\/strong>AMD made another acquisition \u2014\u00a0this time focused on talent. The company acqui-hired the team behind Untether AI<\/a>, which develops AI inference chips, as the semiconductor giant continues to round out its AI offerings.<\/p>\n June 4: <\/strong>AMD continued its shopping spree. The company acquired AI software optimization startup Brium<\/a>, which helps companies retrofit AI software to work with different AI hardware. With a lot of AI software being designed with Nvidia hardware in mind, this acquisition isn\u2019t surprising.<\/p>\n May 28: <\/strong>Nvidia reported that U.S. licensing requirements on its H20 AI chips cost the company $4.5 billion in charges<\/a> during Q1. The company expected these requirements to result in an $8 billion hit to Nvidia\u2019s revenue in Q2.<\/p>\n May 28:<\/strong> AMD kicked off its acquisition spree. The semiconductor company announced that it acquired Enosemi<\/a>, a silicon photonics startup. Enosemi\u2019s tech, which uses light photons to transmit data, is becoming an increasing area of interest for semiconductor companies.<\/p>\n May 21: <\/strong>China\u2019s Commerce Secretary didn\u2019t like the U.S. guidance, issued on May 13, that warned U.S. companies that using Huawei\u2019s AI chips \u201canywhere in the world\u201d was a U.S. chip export violation. The commerce secretary issued a statement that threatened legal action<\/a> against anyone caught enforcing that export restriction.<\/p>\n May 20: <\/strong>Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan seemingly got right to work on his plan to spin out Intel\u2019s non-core business units. Back in May, the semiconductor giant was reportedly looking to offload its Networking and Edge units<\/a>, which make chips for telecom equipment, and was responsible for $5.4 billion of the company\u2019s 2024 revenue. <\/p>\n May 13:<\/strong> Just days before the Biden administration\u2019s Artificial Intelligence Diffusion Rule was set to go into place, the U.S. Department of Commerce formally rescinded it<\/a>. The DOC said that it plans to issue new guidance in the future, and in the meantime, companies should remember that using Huawei\u2019s Ascend AI chips anywhere in the world is a violation of U.S. export rules.<\/p>\n May 7:<\/strong> Just a week before the \u201cFramework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion\u201d was set to go into place, the Trump administration planned on taking a different path. According to multiple media outlets, including Axios<\/a> and Bloomberg<\/a>, the administration wouldn\u2019t enforce the restrictions when they were supposed to start on May 15 and is instead working on its own framework.\u00a0<\/p>\n April 30:\u00a0<\/strong>Anthropic doubled down on its support<\/a> for restricting U.S.-made chip exports, including some tweaks to the Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion, like imposing further restrictions on Tier 2 countries and dedicating resources to enforcement.\u00a0An Nvidia spokesperson shot back<\/a>, saying, \u201cAmerican firms should focus on innovation and rise to the challenge, rather than tell tall tales that large, heavy, and sensitive electronics are somehow smuggled in \u2018baby bumps\u2019 or \u2018alongside live lobsters.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n April 22:\u00a0<\/strong>Ahead of its Q1 earnings call, Intel said it was planning to lay off more than 21,000 employees<\/a>. The layoffs were meant to streamline management, something CEO Lip-Bu Tan has long said Intel needed to do, and help rebuild the company\u2019s engineering focus.\u00a0<\/p>\n April 15:\u00a0<\/strong>Nvidia\u2019s H20 AI chip got hit with an export licensing requirement<\/a>, the company disclosed in an SEC filing. The company added that it expected $5.5 billion in charges related to this new requirement in the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal year. The H20 was the most advanced AI chip Nvidia can still export to China in some fashion. TSMC and Intel reported similar expenses the same week.\u00a0<\/p>\n April 9:\u00a0<\/strong>Nvidia\u2019s CEO Jensen Huang was spotted attending dinner at Donald Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago<\/a> resort, according to reports. At the time, NPR reported<\/a> Huang may have been able to spare Nvidia\u2019s H20 AI chips from export restrictions upon agreeing to invest in AI data centers in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n April 3:\u00a0<\/strong>Intel and TSMC allegedly reached a tentative agreement<\/a> to launch a joint chipmaking venture. This joint venture would operate Intel\u2019s chipmaking facilities, and TSMC would have a 20% stake in the new venture. Both companies declined to comment or confirm. If this deal doesn\u2019t come to fruition, this is likely a decent preview of potential deals in the industry to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n April 1:\u00a0<\/strong>CEO Lip-Bu Tan got to work right away. Just weeks after he joined Intel, the company announced that it was going to spin off non-core assets<\/a> so it could focus. He also said the company would launch new products, including custom semiconductors for customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n March 12:\u00a0<\/strong> Intel announced that industry veteran and former board member Lip-Bu Tan would return to the company as CEO<\/a> on March 18. At the time of his appointment, Tan said Intel would be an \u201cengineering-focused company\u201d under his leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n February 28:\u00a0<\/strong>Intel was supposed to start operating its first chip fabrication plant in Ohio this year. Instead, the company slowed down construction<\/a> on the plant for the second time in February. Now the $28 billion semiconductor project won\u2019t wrap up construction until 2030 and may not even open until 2031.<\/p>\n February 3:\u00a0<\/strong>U.S. senators, including 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<\/a> AI chip exports. The letter specifically referred to Nvidia\u2019s H20 AI chips, which were used in the training of DeepSeek\u2019s R1 \u201creasoning\u201d model.\u00a0<\/p>\n January 27:\u00a0<\/strong>Chinese AI startup DeepSeek<\/a> caused quite the stir in Silicon Valley when it released the open version of its R1 \u201creasoning\u201d model<\/a>. While this isn\u2019t semiconductor news specifically, the sheer alarm in the AI and semiconductor industries DeepSeek caused continues to have ripple effects on the chip industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n January 13:\u00a0<\/strong>With just a week left in office, former president Joe Biden proposed sweeping new export restrictions<\/a> on U.S.-made AI chips. This order created a three-tier structure that determined how many U.S. chips can be exported to each country. Under this proposal, Tier 1 countries faced no restrictions; Tier 2 countries had a chip purchase limit for the first time; and Tier 3 countries got additional restrictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n January 6:<\/strong>\u00a0Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei co-wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal<\/a> endorsing existing AI chip export controls and pointing to them as a reason why China\u2019s AI market was behind the U.S. He also called on incoming president Donald Trump to impose further restrictions and to close loopholes that have allowed AI companies in China to still get their hands on these chips.<\/p>\nDecember<\/h2>\n
Nvidia finds gold with\u00a0Groq\u00a0<\/h3>\n
Chips to China\u00a0<\/h3>\n
November\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Nvidia\u00a0keeps climbing\u00a0<\/h3>\n
October<\/h2>\n
Intel makes processor progress\u00a0<\/h3>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\nSeptember<\/h2>\n
A taste of tariffs\u00a0<\/h3>\n
China shuts out Nvidia\u00a0<\/h3>\n
China calls out Nvidia<\/h3>\n
A leadership shakeup<\/h3>\n
August<\/h2>\n
Nvidia reports record quarter<\/h3>\n
U.S. Government takes equity stake in Intel<\/h3>\n
SoftBank takes a stake in Intel<\/h3>\n
Chip companies strike a deal to sell in China<\/h3>\n
Trump and Lip-Bu Tan meet<\/h3>\n
Trump comes for Lip-Bu Tan<\/h3>\n
Trump says tariffs are coming for the industry<\/h3>\n
July<\/h2>\n
Intel spins out business unit<\/h3>\n
Intel continues to look for efficiency<\/h3>\n
Trump\u2019s AI Action Plan<\/h3>\n
Groundbreaking UAE AI deal reportedly on hold<\/h3>\n
Nvidia is a bargaining chip<\/h3>\n
U.S. chips head back to China<\/h3>\n
Malaysia fights chip smuggling<\/h3>\n
June<\/h2>\n
Intel appoints new leadership<\/h3>\n
Intel began layoffs<\/h3>\n
Nvidia won\u2019t report on China<\/h3>\n
AMD acquired the team behind Untether AI<\/h3>\n
AMD is coming for Nvidia\u2019s AI hardware dominance<\/h3>\n
May<\/h2>\n
Nvidia laid out the impact of chip export restrictions<\/h3>\n
AMD acquired Enosemi<\/h3>\n
Tensions started to flare between China and the U.S.<\/h3>\n
Intel began the process to offload units<\/h3>\n
The Biden administration\u2019s AI Diffusion rule was officially dead<\/h3>\n
A last-minute reversal<\/h3>\n
April<\/h2>\n
Anthropic doubles down on its support of chip export restrictions<\/h3>\n
Planned layoffs at Intel<\/h3>\n
The Trump administration further restricts chip exports<\/h3>\n
Nvidia appears to talk its way out of further chip exports<\/h3>\n
An alleged agreement between Intel and TSMC<\/h3>\n
Intel warned it will spin off non-core assets<\/h3>\n
March<\/h2>\n
Intel names a new CEO\u00a0<\/h3>\n
February<\/h2>\n
Intel\u2019s Ohio chip plant gets delayed again<\/h3>\n
Senators call for more chip export restrictions<\/h3>\n
January\u00a0<\/h2>\n
DeepSeek releases its open \u201creasoning\u201d model<\/h3>\n
Joe Biden\u2019s executive order on chip exports<\/h3>\n
Anthropic\u2019s Dario Amodei weighs in on chip export restrictions<\/h3>\n