Semicon Briefing

ASML is working with TSMC, Nvidia, Intel, Samsung and SK Hynix to adapt its High-NA EUV machines for manufacturing significantly larger AI chips – a technological paradigm shift beyond the previous scaling path. If successful, future AI accelerators can be manufactured with considerably more computing power per die, fundamentally reshuffling competition for AI hardware.

In a single week, over $4 billion flowed into semiconductor startups according to X accounts: Tenstorrent ($1.29 billion), Positron ($875 million), Ayar Labs ($650 million) and several other rounds. Capital concentration demonstrates that investors are betting on alternative AI chip architectures and want to challenge Nvidia's market position in the long term.

A proposed $22 billion merger between Qorvo (QRVO) and Skyworks (SWKS) in the RF semiconductor segment is gaining momentum according to market observers. A merger would create a dominant provider for mobile chips and significantly strengthen negotiating power against Apple and other major customers.

China has reportedly started mass production of a new generation of memory chips using predominantly domestic technology – a direct result of the technology indigenization pressure forced by US export restrictions. This signals that the Western containment strategy in the memory segment is reaching its first structural limits and geopolitical semiconductor rivalry is entering a new phase.

Chinese AI chip startup EVAS Intelligence closed a Series B+ round of 2 billion RMB ($280 million) and achieved a post-money valuation of approximately $2.1 billion. The round with strategic investors demonstrates that China is deliberately scaling RISC-V-based AI architectures outside the US IP ecosystem.

SK Hynix is reportedly evaluating a cooperation for memory chip manufacturing within Intel's US fab infrastructure, which would secure both companies access to CHIPS Act subsidies – in addition to the ongoing Ohio fab acquisition. The model could set a precedent and motivate other Asian chipmakers to develop US manufacturing capacity to hedge geopolitical risks.