A timeline of the U.S. semiconductor market in 2025

It’s already been a tumultuous twelvemonth for the U.S. semiconductor industry.

The semiconductor manufacture plays a sizable relation successful the “AI race” that the U.S. seems determined to win, which is wherefore this discourse is worthy paying attraction to: from Intel’s assignment of Lip-Bu Tan — who wasted nary clip getting to enactment trying to revitalize the bequest institution — to CEO, to Joe Biden proposing sweeping caller AI spot export rules connected his mode retired of bureau that whitethorn oregon whitethorn not really stick.

Here’s a look astatine what’s happened since the opening of the year. 

May

A last-minute reversal

May 7: Just a week earlier the “Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion” was acceptable to spell into place, the Trump medication plans connected taking a antithetic path. According to aggregate media outlets, including Axios and Bloomberg, the medication won’t enforce the restrictions erstwhile they were expected to commencement connected May 15 and is alternatively moving connected its ain framework. 

April

Anthropic doubles down connected its enactment of spot export restrictions

April 30: Anthropic doubled down connected its support for restricting U.S.-made spot exports, including immoderate tweaks to the Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion, similar imposing further restrictions connected Tier 2 countries and dedicating resources to enforcement. An Nvidia spokesperson changeable back, saying, “American firms should absorption connected innovation and emergence to the challenge, alternatively than archer gangly tales that large, heavy, and delicate electronics are someway smuggled successful ‘baby bumps’ oregon ‘alongside unrecorded lobsters.’” 

Planned layoffs astatine Intel

April 22: Ahead of its Q1 net call, Intel said it was readying to laic disconnected much than 21,000 employees. The layoffs were meant to streamline management, thing CEO Lip-Bu Tan has agelong said Intel needed to do, and assistance rebuild the company’s engineering focus. 

The Trump medication further restricts spot exports

April 15: Nvidia’s H20 AI spot got deed with an export licensing requirement, the institution disclosed successful an SEC filing. The institution added it expects $5.5 cardinal successful charges related to this caller request successful the archetypal 4th of its 2026 fiscal year. The H20 is the astir precocious AI spot Nvidia tin inactive export to China successful immoderate signifier oregon fashion. TSMC and Intel reported akin expenses the aforesaid week. 

Nvidia appears to speech its mode retired of further spot exports

April 9: Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang was spotted attending meal astatine Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, according to reports. At the time, NPR reported Huang whitethorn person been capable to spare Nvidia’s H20 AI chips from export restrictions upon agreeing to put successful AI information centers successful the U.S. 

An alleged statement betwixt Intel and TSMC

April 3: Intel and TSMC allegedly reached a tentative agreement to motorboat a associated chipmaking venture. This associated task would run Intel’s chipmaking facilities, and TSMC would person a 20% involvement successful the caller venture. Both companies declined to remark oregon confirm. If this woody doesn’t travel to fruition, this is apt a decent preview of imaginable deals successful this manufacture to come. 

Intel spins disconnected non-core assets, announces caller initiative

April 1: CEO Lip-Bu Tan got to enactment close away. Just weeks aft helium joined Intel, the institution announced that it was going to spin disconnected non-core assets truthful it could focus. He besides said the institution would motorboat caller products including customized semiconductors for customers. 

March

Intel names a caller CEO 

March 12:  Intel announced that manufacture veteran, and erstwhile committee member, Lip-Bu Tan would instrumentality to the institution arsenic CEO connected March 18. At the clip of his appointment, Tan said helium Intel would beryllium an “engineering-focused company” nether his leadership. 

February

Intel’s Ohio spot works gets delayed again

February 28: Intel was expected to commencement operating its archetypal spot fabrication works successful Ohio this year. Instead, the institution slowed down construction connected the works for the 2nd clip successful February. Now, the $28 cardinal semiconductor task won’t wrapper up operation until 2030 and whitethorn not adjacent unfastened until 2031.

Senators telephone for much spot export restrictions

February 3: U.S. senators, including Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo), wrote a missive to Commerce Secretary Nominee-Designate Howard Lutnick urging the Trump medication to further restrict AI spot exports. The missive specifically referred to Nvidia’s H20 AI chips, which were utilized successful the grooming of DeepSeek’s R1 “reasoning” model. 

January 

DeepSeek releases its unfastened “reasoning” model

January 27: Chinese AI startup DeepSeek caused rather the disturbance successful Silicon Valley erstwhile it released the open mentation of its R1 “reasoning” model. While this isn’t semiconductor quality specifically, the sheer alarm successful the AI and semiconductor industries DeepSeek’s merchandise caused continues to person ripple effects connected the spot industry. 

Joe Biden’s enforcement bid connected spot exports

January 13: With conscionable a week near successful office, erstwhile President Joe Biden proposed sweeping caller export restrictions connected U.S.-made AI chips. This bid created a three-tier operation that determined however galore U.S. chips tin beryllium exported to each country. Under this proposal, Tier 1 countries faced nary restrictions; Tier 2 countries had a spot acquisition bounds for the archetypal time; and Tier 3 countries got further restrictions. 

Anthropic’s Dario Amodei weighs successful connected spot export restrictions

January 6: Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei co-wrote an op-ed successful The Wall Street Journal endorsing existing AI spot export controls and pointing to them arsenic a crushed wherefore China’s AI marketplace was down the U.S.’. He besides called connected incoming president Donald Trump to enforce further restrictions and to adjacent loopholes that person allowed AI companies successful China to inactive get their hands connected these chips.