Semiconductor

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick testified before Congress, indicating potential renegotiations of the Biden administration’s semiconductor subsidies under the CHIPS Act due to concerns of overgenerosity. The administration is reevaluating grants, aiming for better returns on investment, and hinting at cancellation of some deals. TSMC’s increased investment commitment is cited as a positive example. The industry anticipates the impact of revisions impacting future semiconductor independence.

TSMC CEO C.C. Wei, addressing a shareholder meeting, acknowledged the indirect impact of US tariffs. While recognizing potential price and demand fluctuations, Wei remained optimistic about the semiconductor industry, particularly AI chips. He highlighted strong, consistently unmet demand for AI processors and confidently forecast a “very good” outlook for TSMC over the next decade.

TSMC is considering building a cutting-edge chip fabrication plant in the UAE, a significant strategic move for the world’s largest chipmaker. This potential expansion highlights the UAE’s drive to become a global tech leader, particularly in AI. Discussions with UAE officials and US representatives suggest advanced stages of assessment. This move, along with potential investments from other major semiconductor companies, could lead to major shifts in the global semiconductor supply chain, boosting the Middle East’s tech capabilities.

Intel skipped its traditional Computex 2025 keynote to celebrate 40 years of collaboration with Taiwan, a strategic partner vital to global semiconductor innovation. CEO Lip-Bu Tan shared his career transformation through lessons learned in Taiwan, emphasizing cultural adaptability and relationship-driven business. He highlighted Intel’s legacy of nurturing 30 local startups via five venture funds and outlined a collaborative foundry strategy prioritizing partnerships over control, aligning with Taiwan’s evolving role as a key contributor to next-generation computing technologies.

The US-China AI chip battle escalates as Nvidia’s restricted H200 and B200 GPUs enter China via shadow networks during a 90-day tariff reprieve, fueling a volatile black market. Cloud giants face acute scarcity, while emerging hybrid supply chains disguise GPUs as industrial goods. Structural contradictions emerge: despite speculative bubbles and unviable projects, specialized AI adoption grows, exposing systemic bottlenecks in technical innovation, data readiness, and vertical integration. Government subsidies clash with industry demands for foundational ecosystem reforms as companies pivot to VC-driven compute models amid shifting demand from pre-training to inference workloads.