August 28, 2026 · 03:48 Uhr
Micron has announced a $10 billion investment in US research infrastructure – Trump publicly praised the company as the 'hottest company'. The announcement signals another step toward shifting critical semiconductor capacity to the US and is likely to increase pressure on other memory manufacturers to make similar commitments.
Washington is reviewing forcing the Netherlands to completely halt all ASML DUV sales and maintenance services to China – a drastic escalation from previous EUV restrictions. China responds with its own lithography program (5 DUV systems 2026, ~20 in 2027), which massively increases time pressure for Western export policy.
SK Hynix secures up to $458 million in CHIPS Act funding plus $554.7 million in tax credits for an HBM/AI memory fab in West Lafayette, Indiana, in partnership with Purdue University. The deal underscores how strategically the US is onshoring high-performance memory for AI accelerators – with direct competitive advantage over Samsung Foundry.
TSMC and Samsung confirmed that High-NA EUV (0.55 NA) will be introduced only at the 1-nm node – earliest by 2030 – while Intel is already productively using the technology now. ASML faces a dangerous concentration risk with a single major customer; at the same time, Intel gains a rare technological lead in manufacturing technology.
Rocket Lab has secured $3.6 billion in bridge financing for the Iridium acquisition, with the final financing mix remaining open. The deal combines space infrastructure with satellite communications and could restructure the semiconductor supply chain for aerospace electronics.
All three leading foundries are intensifying competition over Backside Power Delivery Networks (BSPDN) below the 2-nm threshold – a key technology for energy efficiency in AI chips. The outcome of this race will likely determine which foundry provider will win orders from major hyperscalers for next-generation GPU and CPU generations starting in 2027/2028.
The semiconductor industry is experiencing simultaneous escalation on three fronts during the week of August 23-28, 2026: geopolitically, technologically, and investment-wise. Washington is taking the decoupling of China from Western lithography technology to a new level – a possible total ban on ASML DUV exports would set back China's chip development by years, but would also put massive political pressure on Europe's most important technology company. In parallel, onshoring is accelerating: Micron's $10 billion commitment and SK Hynix' CHIPS Act deal in Indiana show that the US is strategically bringing high-performance memory for AI applications into its own manufacturing. Technologically, a surprising Intel moment is emerging: while TSMC and Samsung are delaying High-NA EUV to 2030, Intel is already producing with it – a rare time advantage that lends new credibility to Intel's foundry strategy. Overall, the bipolar structure of the global chip supply chain is tightening, with Western companies increasingly forced to explicitly choose technology partnerships and investment locations based on geopolitical considerations.
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