chip

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The U.S. Department of Commerce will allocate up to $389 million to support chip research and development.

According to Bloomberg's report on October 22, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. has secured a loan of 15 billion yuan (approximately 2.25 billion USD), amid a significant increase in chip spending for artificial intelligence-related projects. A knowledgeable source stated that this seven-year offshore yuan loan was provided by six Chinese lending institutions, including Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the funds will be used for general corporate purposes. The source requested anonymity as the discussion pertains to non-public matters.According to Moneycontrol, which reprinted the content attributed to Bloomberg, this transaction illustrates the role of domestic lending institutions in Huawei's offshore financing since the United States imposed restrictions on Huawei in 2019. Before finalizing, Huawei had exploratory contacts with international banks. Huawei, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The report states that Huawei's research and development expenditure increased to 121 billion yuan in the first half of this year, while stockpiling due to soaring memory costs led to a negative cash flow of 39.9 billion yuan, eroding current profits. According to compiled data from Bloomberg, this is Huawei's first offshore syndicated loan since raising 11.8 billion Hong Kong dollars (approximately 1.5 billion USD) in 2020.

Cryptocurrency market analyst Murphy stated that BTC has accumulated approximately 921,000 chips around the $83,000 mark, approaching the milestone of 1 million. The last time a similar scale was observed was on August 3 of this year, when the chips at that price level reached about 1.05 million.Regarding the historical Coinbase wallet chips that may be included, Murphy indicated that about 550,000 BTC are related to the Coinbase wallet consolidation from a year ago, but it is currently unclear how many positions remain. According to his estimates, there may only be 100,000 to 200,000 left, so this factor can be temporarily ignored. BTC has entered the first chip gap area below $83,000. Since the price did not fully exchange hands when passing through this area previously, the price returning to this range creates an attraction effect, prompting chips to be re-exchanged and fill the gap.BTC faced resistance when attempting to move downward and may look for a direction with less resistance again. The $83,000 mark is also an important focus in the current long-short battle; any party gaining an advantage could drive the market to form a new trend.

On October 21, Intel announced that construction workers have installed the first major structural truss at the new chip factory in New Albany, Ohio, marking the start of the next phase of construction. Naga Chandrasekaran, head of Intel's foundry, stated on the company's website that this is another step towards expanding advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the United States.The factory was originally scheduled to begin chip production in 2025, but Intel has now postponed the completion target to 2030. The second Ohio wafer fab at the same site is planned to be completed by 2031, located northeast of Columbus. The delay is related to a recalibration of the foundry business under CEO Lip-Bu Tan. After taking over in 2025, Tan adopted a more cautious strategy, preferring to advance large-scale factory construction only after customer demand is clear. The project was initially driven by former CEO Pat Gelsinger, aimed at providing foundry services for external customers.As of the end of 2025, Intel has been mass-producing the most advanced 18A chips at its Arizona wafer fab, primarily for its own processors, and has not yet secured large external customers. Chandrasekaran also announced on the same day that operations for the next wafer fab in Arizona are expected to begin by the end of 2028, with construction and equipment installation currently underway. In September 2025, reports indicated that SK Hynix might be in talks with Intel to lease part of the foundry space at the Ohio plant for producing memory chips, but neither party has confirmed any plans.

According to Sifted, the Dutch startup Photon Bridge announced the completion of a €10 million seed round financing. The company is developing laser technology that can be used for internal connections of AI chips in data centers, aiming to enhance inter-chip connectivity performance.The company claims that its laser technology can be manufactured at scale to meet the rapidly growing demand for AI infrastructure.

According to a report from ZDNet Korea on October 20, the AI chip company Groq, which has been effectively acquired by NVIDIA, is advancing the introduction of DRAM 3D stacked packaging in its next-generation chips to replace the fast but lower-capacity SRAM solution. Groq was founded in 2016 by former Google TPU designer Jonathan Ross, and it was reported that the company was acquired by NVIDIA in a roundabout manner last year.The report states that Groq is evaluating a solution called 3DS, which vertically connects DRAM chips through silicon vias for high-capacity packaging. 3D packaging allows multiple bare chips to be stacked vertically and operate as a single chip, reducing area and improving power efficiency compared to planar solutions. Both 3DS and HBM use silicon vias, but HBM focuses on transmission speed, while 3DS maintains existing DRAM interfaces and focuses on capacity expansion. Anonymous industry insiders indicated that Groq plans to adopt 3D packaging in its next-generation chips, stacking DRAM instead of SRAM; another individual noted that market demand is shifting towards larger capacity chips, prompting Groq to choose DRAM, which has a capacity advantage.

Elon Musk stated that the goal of the Terafab project at Gibbons Creek is to achieve mass production of chips around the third quarter of 2028, with the first test chip expected to operate normally in May or June 2027.

According to a report by Reuters, on October 20, ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent have ordered over 3 million RTX PRO 5500 graphics cards from NVIDIA, with a unit price of approximately $11,400, totaling over $35 billion. Due to U.S. export controls, this chip does not include the advanced Blackwell architecture and is currently the most powerful compliant NVIDIA chip available for purchase in China.Insiders have indicated that due to demand far exceeding production capacity, NVIDIA has informed partners that it may only be able to fulfill 5% to 10% of orders. Chinese tech companies primarily use this chip for AI inference and post-training model generation. Although its performance is far inferior to the banned B300 and H200 chips, in the context of ongoing computing power shortages and restrictions, the RTX PRO 5500 has become an attractive alternative. Additionally, NVIDIA plans to shift most of TSMC's capacity to the new generation Rubin products starting in 2027. Currently, ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent, and NVIDIA have not commented on this.

According to The Information, DeepSeek is collaborating closely with Huawei to jointly design the next generation of AI chips, aiming to build models that do not rely on NVIDIA's computing power. Insiders revealed that Huawei engineers have entered DeepSeek's office to understand its model architecture and algorithm requirements, and to test how the chips handle data transmission and compression, with the first compatible chip targeting Ascend 950DT.The report pointed out that this move comes as China pushes to reduce its dependence on American chips. Limited by TSMC's foundry services and U.S. export controls, Huawei's Ascend 950DT is planned for release in 2027, but mass production may be delayed until 2028. To address the chip shortage, DeepSeek is using the TileLang programming language to bypass CUDA restrictions, while still attempting to acquire the banned NVIDIA Blackwell chips through third-party data centers. In addition, DeepSeek is forming a chip team and has begun testing clusters with over 1,000 processors.

NVIDIA has successfully won central processing unit (CPU) chip orders from the rapidly growing artificial intelligence startup Modal. Modal had previously only used Intel and AMD chips, indicating that NVIDIA has made significant progress in entering this market.

Financial Associated Press, October 20 - Amazon launched the open-source tool TorchNeuron on the 19th local time, aiming to lower the barrier for developers to transition from NVIDIA chips to its self-developed chips, challenging NVIDIA's software barrier built on CUDA. According to reports, this tool allows AI code written in PyTorch to run on Amazon's self-developed AI chips without the need for rewriting. PyTorch is maintained primarily by Meta and is described as an open-source framework used by most AI developers.Amazon's chip design department, Annapurna Labs, introduced that with TorchNeuron, developers only need to modify one configuration to run the same code on the self-developed Trainium chip. Amazon announced the launch of this tool on the 19th local time and plans to publicly release it in a free open-source format at the PyTorch conference in San Jose, California on the 20th.Colin Brace, Vice President of Software at Annapurna Labs, stated in an interview that the launch of TorchNeuron is intended to reduce the steps required for developers to try Amazon's self-developed chips, starting from the customers' existing workflows. He revealed that over 30 early customers are already using it, covering fields such as robotics, world models, and voice AI, and mentioned that switching to Amazon chips can save costs.

According to LatePost's LatePost Auto report, Li Auto's chip subsidiary Shanghai Mahexin Technology has completed a Series A equity financing of 1.625 billion yuan, with Li Auto contributing 1 billion yuan and external investors contributing a total of 625 million yuan. After the financing is completed, Li Auto holds 74.01% of the shares, making it the largest shareholder, while external investment institutions include Hangzhou Jingtou, BlueRun Ventures, Huaye Tiancheng Capital, and Qiji Chuangtan.Hangzhou Jingtou has also received an additional investment equity of 500 million yuan, bringing the company's valuation to 17.1 billion yuan, with 20% of the equity allocated for employee incentives. Insiders say the funds will be used for subsequent chip research and development and commercialization, and they hope to supply externally and expand into businesses outside of automotive. Li Auto co-founder Ma Donghui stated on September 21 that Mahe chips, silicon carbide modules, and other products can be sold externally, and Li Auto is developing the second generation of Mahe intelligent driving chips.

According to the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, during the sixth RISC-V China Summit, ZTE Microelectronics' subsidiary, Lirui Micro, unveiled the high-performance RISC-V CPU chip, Mount Everest 200, designed for intelligent computing centers. Lirui Micro stated that Mount Everest 200 is the industry's first RISC-V CPU chip aimed at intelligent computing center scenarios, with detailed product specifications to be officially released by the end of this year.Mount Everest 200 focuses on three major scenarios: Agent clusters, inference super-node Hosts, and enterprise-level intelligent computing hybrid inference. It natively supports RISC-V AI instruction acceleration and is optimized for KV Cache and long-context large model inference. This chip integrates various acceleration engines, including Matrix, Vector, compression, and encryption, supports high-speed interconnect interfaces such as DDR5, PCIe, and CXL, and can adapt to RISC-V native AI and GPU acceleration card MoE large model hybrid inference solutions.

At the 2026 RISC-V China Summit, Chief Scientist Meng Jianyi of Alibaba Damo Academy stated: So far, the Xuantie chips have steadily shipped over 6 billion units. Xuantie is a series of RISC-V processors launched by Alibaba Damo Academy.At the conference, Alibaba Damo Academy also released the first automotive-grade enhanced E908A chip. Meng Jianyi cited a prediction from Omida, stating that by 2030, the annual shipment volume of global RISC-V processors will grow by nearly 30% each year, and by 2030, the global market share of processor shipments will reach approximately 25%.

According to Bloomberg, Asian semiconductor stocks continued to weaken on Monday. The Bloomberg Asia Chip Index fell more than 2%, reaching its lowest level since July, with TSMC, SK Hynix, and Advantest being the main drags. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index recorded its largest weekly decline since October 2008 last week, dropping more than 3% at one point on Monday before recovering some ground; the Nikkei 225 index fell 2.3% at one point, and the Taiwan Weighted Index dropped 2%.Market concerns stem from two aspects. First, the pressure on financing for AI infrastructure in the United States continues to ferment, with CoreWeave's financing capabilities being questioned and the IPO expectations for Anthropic and Nscale cooling. Second, Chinese AI company DeepSeek released a new model update over the weekend, claiming faster operation speeds and lower resource consumption, raising concerns about the potential decrease in storage capacity required for AI models and the possible impact on chip demand.Kang DaeKwun, CEO of Life Asset Management, stated that the market uncertainty is too high, making it difficult to determine when the Korean stock market will bottom out. Financing for U.S. corporate AI projects is one of the main risks, and the profitability of Korean chip companies still heavily relies on continuous investment in AI infrastructure by U.S. companies. This week, the earnings reports from tech giants like Meta and Tesla will be an important window to observe the growth momentum of AI capital expenditures.

According to the Industrial and Commercial Times, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has approved TSMC's first phase plan for the production of advanced semiconductors using 3-nanometer process at its second factory in Kumamoto Prefecture. This will be the first time a manufacturer in Japan produces 3-nanometer chips. TSMC can further expand its production capacity based on additional support from the Japanese government. Kumamoto Prefectural Governor Seiji Kimura stated that this plan will drive a new wave of creative revitalization.The Nikkei reported that the Ministry of Economy has listed the Kumamoto second factory as a recipient of subsidies, with plans to produce 3-nanometer chips, expected to officially start production in December 2028, with final capacity depending on the amount of subsidies. The Ministry will include the budget needed for subsidies in the fiscal year 2027 budget request, with the Japanese government originally planning to provide 732 billion yen in subsidies. The Asahi Shimbun pointed out that the Kumamoto second factory is still under construction and is adjacent to the already operational Kumamoto first factory.Previously, TSMC planned for the second factory to manufacture 6-nanometer and 12-nanometer processes, with a monthly capacity of 48,000 wafers, and planned to produce 40-nanometer chips; in February this year, the plan was changed to 3-nanometer, reducing the monthly capacity to 6,000 wafers. The adjustment plan for the Kumamoto first factory was also approved by the Ministry, with the original plan to produce 55,000 wafers per month covering 22 to 28 nanometers and 12 to 16 nanometers, while the new plan stops production of 12 to 16 nanometers, changing to 45,000 wafers per month for 22 to 28 nanometers.

Samsung Electronics will adopt TSMC's 3-nanometer process to produce the next generation of custom HBM chip bare dies for NVIDIA. This is the first time Samsung has collaborated with TSMC in the HBM manufacturing stage.NVIDIA has requested Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology to use TSMC's process to manufacture NVHBM bare dies and to utilize sixth-generation DRAM technology. Samsung plans to continue independently producing standard HBM and custom products for other customers.

According to CoinDesk, during the market closure on Saturday, leveraged bets linked to chip stocks and semiconductor funds were liquidated for nearly $52 million within 10 minutes. According to CoinGlass data, approximately $51.6 million in chip stocks and semiconductor fund-related positions were forcibly closed between 21:22 and 21:32 UTC, of which about $38 million came from bullish bets on rising prices. The sell-off began at Binance and quickly spread to Hyperliquid within seconds.The SOXL contract, which is three times long on chip stocks, suffered the largest loss, approximately $12.7 million; contracts for SanDisk and SK Hynix each lost about $10.8 million. According to David Jeong, CEO of trading firm Tread.fi, he placed the first large sell orders for SanDisk and Micron on Binance at 21:21:59 UTC, and less than a second later, the orders impacted Hyperliquid—this platform, launched by Trade XYZ, tracks contracts for stocks, with about 10 addresses establishing short positions on 6 chip-related contracts within 1.8 seconds. In the first minute, Binance processed approximately $21.9 million in SanDisk trades, while Trade XYZ accounted for $3.1 million.Storage chip stocks had already experienced a tumultuous week due to new competition from Chinese chip manufacturer CXMT. With the stock market closed, these contracts had no real stock prices for reference, and traders could only compete against each other; the rules of Trade XYZ allow the platform to set reference prices independently before external stock quotes resume, with relevant quotes returning when U.S. stocks open on Monday.