Without a doubt, the U.S. semiconductor industry has faced a roller-coaster of a year. The U.S. makes every effort to lead the race towards AI mastery, and this industry is crucial to that race. From the appointment of Lip-Bu Tan, a dynamic force who's been striving to rekindle Intel's glory, as CEO, to the former President Joe Biden's significant new AI chip export constraints as he exit the office, the situation is nothing short of attention-grabbing. Let's take a look back at this year's activities.

May

A sudden course change

May 7: Just a week shy of implementing the "Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion,” the Trump administration opts for a new direction. As reported by numerous news outlets, such as Axios and Bloomberg, the administration isn't going to apply the restrictions come May 15, but instead, is crafting its unique framework.

April

Anthropic strongly backs chip export limitations

April 30: Deepening their endorsement for limiting US-made chip exports, Anthropic suggests finessing the Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion to include more restrictions on Tier 2 countries and delegate resources for enforcement. In response, an Nvidia spokesperson counters, reasoning that American companies should be focusing on innovation and not spinning tales that large, delicate electronics could be easily smuggled.

Intel plans workforce downsizing

April 22: Before its Q1 earnings call, Intel revealed plans to lay off over 21,000 employees. The layoffs are designed to streamline management and revive the company's engineering-focus, as advocated for some time by CEO Lip-Bu Tan.

The Trump administration tightens chip exports

April 15: Nvidia’s H20 AI chip encountered an export licensing requirement, as disclosed in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. The company estimates a whopping $5.5 billion in charges stemming from this new requisite in the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal year. Both TSMC and Intel reported similar costs the same week.

Intel circles back to core, announces fresh initiative

April 1: Right after stepping in, CEO Lip-Bu Tan gets the ball rolling. Barely weeks into his tenure at Intel, the company announced its decision to divest non-essential assets to refine its focus. He also revealed the company's plan to launch new products, including custom semiconductors for clients.

March

Intel appoints new CEO

March 12: Intel shared the news that industry stalwart and former board member, Lip-Bu Tan would make a comeback as the company's CEO on March 18. At the time of his appointment, Tan declared his vision of transforming Intel into an “engineering-centric company.”

February

Intel’s Ohio chip facility encounters another delay

February 28: This year, Intel was slated to open its first chip manufacturing facility in Ohio. However, the company decided to decelerate work on the plant for the second time in February. Now, the $28 billion semiconductor project is unlikely to conclude construction until 2030 and may not even open its doors until 2031.

Senators advocate for intense chip export restrictions

February 3: U.S. senators, embracing figures such as Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo), penned a letter to Commerce Secretary Nominee-Designate Howard Lutnick, urging the Trump administration to intensify AI chip exports restrictions. The letter particularly mentions the H20 AI chips from Nvidia, which were utilized to train DeepSeek's R1 "reasoning" model.

January

DeepSeek unveils its open “reasoning” model

January 27: The Chinese AI startupDeepSeek made waves in Silicon Valley by releasing the open version of its R1 "reasoning" model. While not directly related to semiconductors, DeepSeek's disruptive move continues to create ripples in the AI and semiconductor industries.

Joe Biden's executive directive on chip exports

January 13: In his last week in office, former President Joe Biden announced substantial new restrictions on the export of U.S.-made AI chips. The directive introduced a three-tier system that decided the quantity of U.S. chips that could be exported to a particular country. Tier 1 countries were unfettered under these rules, Tier 2 countries were liable to a chip purchase cap for the first time, and Tier 3 countries were subject to further limits.

Anthropic’s Dario Amodei comments on chip export restrictions

January 6: Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei co-penned an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal supporting existing AI chip export controls and suggested that they were a key reason why China's AI market lagged behind the U.S.’s. In addition, he called upon incoming President Donald Trump to impose further restrictions and seal loopholes that have allowed AI firms in China to continue gaining access to these chips.