A Timeline of the US Semiconductor Market in 2025: Key Events and Industry Shifts

It’s been a dynamic year for the U.S. semiconductor industry, heavily influenced by the global AI race. From leadership changes at Intel to evolving export regulations, the first half of 2025 has been marked by significant events. Here’s a detailed timeline of the key developments shaping the sector.

June 2025

Intel Appoints New Leadership (June 18): Intel announced four new leadership appointments aimed at revitalizing the company’s engineering focus, including a new chief revenue officer and high-profile engineering hires.

Intel to Begin Layoffs (June 17): In a move to flatten its organization, Intel plans to lay off 15-20% of its Intel Foundry staff starting in July. CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s restructuring efforts are now visibly impacting the workforce.

Nvidia Won’t Report on China (June 13): Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated the company will exclude the Chinese market from future revenue and profit forecasts due to U.S. AI chip export restrictions, reflecting a significant strategic shift.

AMD Acquires the Team Behind Untether AI (June 6): AMD continues to bolster its AI capabilities by acquiring the team behind Untether AI, a developer of AI inference chips.

AMD is Coming for Nvidia’s AI Hardware Dominance (June 4): AMD acquired AI software optimization startup Brium, signaling its intent to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in the AI hardware market. Brium’s technology helps retrofit AI software to work with various AI hardware, giving AMD a competitive edge.

May 2025

Nvidia Lays Out the Impact of Chip Export Restrictions (May 28): Nvidia reported that U.S. licensing requirements on its H20 AI chips cost the company $4.5 billion in charges during Q1, with an expected $8 billion hit to revenue in Q2.

AMD Acquires Enosemi (May 28): AMD acquired Enosemi, a silicon photonics startup, to enhance its AI capabilities with technology that uses light photons to transmit data.

Tensions Start to Flare Between China and the U.S. (May 21): China’s Commerce Secretary threatened legal action against the U.S. following guidance issued on May 13, warning against the use of Huawei’s AI chips, highlighting escalating tensions over technology export restrictions issued a statement that threatened legal action.

Intel May Be Starting to Offload its Non-Core Units (May 20): Intel is reportedly exploring a sale of its networking and edge units, which generated $5.4 billion in revenue in 2024, as part of CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s strategy to streamline the company.

The Biden Administration’s AI Diffusion Rule is Officially Dead (May 13): The U.S. Department of Commerce formally rescinded the Artificial Intelligence Diffusion Rule, indicating a shift in regulatory approach, but warned against using Huawei’s Ascend AI chips due to export rules.

A Last-Minute Reversal (May 7): The Trump administration decided not to enforce the “Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion” that was set to go into effect on May 15, opting instead to develop its framework (Axios, Bloomberg).

April 2025

Anthropic Doubles Down on Its Support of Chip Export Restrictions (April 30): Anthropic reiterated its support for restricting U.S.-made chip exports, suggesting tweaks to the Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion doubled down on its support.

Planned Layoffs at Intel (April 22): Intel announced plans to lay off over 21,000 employees to streamline management and refocus on engineering.

The Trump Administration Further Restricts Chip Exports (April 15): Nvidia’s H20 AI chip faced an export licensing requirement, expected to cost the company $5.5 billion in charges in its fiscal year 2026.

Nvidia Appears to Talk Its Way Out of Further Chip Exports (April 9): Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reportedly attended dinner at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, potentially sparing Nvidia’s H20 AI chips from further export restrictions by agreeing to invest in U.S. AI data centers (NPR).

An Alleged Agreement Between Intel and TSMC (April 3): Intel and TSMC reportedly reached a tentative agreement to launch a joint chipmaking venture, with TSMC holding a 20% stake allegedly reached a tentative agreement.

Intel Spins Off Noncore Assets, Announces New Initiative (April 1): CEO Lip-Bu Tan announced Intel would spin off noncore assets and launch new products, including custom semiconductors.

March 2025

Intel Names a New CEO (March 12): Intel appointed Lip-Bu Tan as its next CEO, emphasizing a return to an “engineering-focused company.”

February 2025

Intel’s Ohio Chip Plant Gets Delayed Again (February 28): Intel delayed construction on its Ohio chip plant, pushing the completion date to 2030 or 2031 the company slowed down construction.

Senators Call for More Chip Export Restrictions (February 3): U.S. senators urged the Trump administration to further restrict AI chip exports, specifically referencing Nvidia’s H20 AI chips (Warren, Hawley letter).

January 2025

DeepSeek Releases Its Open “Reasoning” Model (January 27): Chinese AI startup DeepSeek released the open version of its R1 “reasoning” model, causing significant discussion in the AI and semiconductor industries open version of its R1 “reasoning” model.

Joe Biden’s Executive Order on Chip Exports (January 13): Former president Joe Biden proposed new export restrictions on U.S.-made AI chips, creating a three-tier structure for export limits proposed sweeping new export restrictions.

Anthropic’s Dario Amodei Weighs In on Chip Export Restrictions (January 6): Anthropic’s Dario Amodei endorsed existing AI chip export controls and called for further restrictions in The Wall Street Journal.