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May 15, 2025
 

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CHIPMAKERS

SoftBank Group reported net income of ¥517.18 billion ($3.5 billion) in its fiscal fourth quarter, helped by the Vision Fund, which swung to a profit of ¥26.1 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2025
SoftBank profit doubles as AI demand boosts chip sales and startups
The results come as SoftBank plans to invest $30 billion in OpenAI while leading a $100 billion foray into building AI hardware in the U.S.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the Saudi-U.S. business investment forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 14, 2025
Trump’s Middle East visit opens floodgate of AI deals led by Nvidia
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are poised to win wider access to advanced AI chips from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.
A semiconductor wafer is magnified through the lens of a microscope in Seoul on April 30. A rule introduced by former U.S. President Joe Biden to restrict the export of sophisticated chips has been described as "unenforceable."
BUSINESS / Tech
May 8, 2025
Trump administration to rescind and replace Biden's AI chip export curbs
A spokeswoman for the Department of Commerce said the rule is "overly complex" and "unenforceable."
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 7, 2025
Trade barriers to China's AI market a 'tremendous loss,' NVidia CEO says
Jensen Huang has argued that tightening restrictions on his company that limit access to China, the biggest market for semiconductors, will hurt U.S. national security.
The Advanced Micro Devices headquarters in Santa Clara, California
BUSINESS / Tech
May 7, 2025
AMD and Arm offer a window into the AI landscape ahead of Nvidia earnings
Though chipmaking stocks have taken a hit this year, underlying results may show a stronger foundation for the AI trade than recent stock performance indicates.
Data center servers and components containing the newest artificial intelligence chips from Nvidia are seen on display at the company's GTC software developer conference in San Jose, California, on March 19.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025
U.S. lawmaker targets smuggling of Nvidia chips to China with new bill
Rep. Bill Foster said the technology to track chips after they are sold is readily available, with much of it already built into Nvidia's chips.
The Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion was issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce a week before the end of the Biden administration. The Trump administration is now trying to alter it.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 30, 2025
Trump officials eye changes to Biden's AI chip export rule
Removing the tier system could open the door to using U.S. chips as an even more powerful negotiating tool in trade talks.
Sony is considering spinning off its semiconductor unit, sources say.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 29, 2025
Sony weighs chip spinoff that Dan Loeb called for years ago
The chip business makes industry-leading image sensors that go into cameras inside Apple and Xiaomi phones.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba receives a gift from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the start of their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2025
Nvidia CEO urges LDP to build up Japan’s AI infrastructure
Japan has pledged to increase government and corporate funding in AI to over ¥50 trillion ($350 billion) in the next 10 years.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang answers questions from reporters after his meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2025
Nvidia CEO lobbies Japan to generate more power to fuel AI
The two discussed how Japan is particularly well-positioned to develop AI, given its leadership in robotics and industrial manufacturing.
A Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) logo is displayed on a wall in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Tuesday. A recent rout saw TSMC’s forward price-to-earnings ratio hit a two-year low at one point.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 16, 2025
TSMC and ASML outlooks to reveal depth of tariff pain and AI angst
Both have borne the brunt of a broader market selloff, weighed down by both U.S. tariff threats and doubts over future AI demand.
The U.S. Commerce Department has begun investigating how semiconductors and pharmaceuticals impact national security.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 15, 2025
Trump initiates chips and drug probes, ahead of more tariffs
The moves, announced Monday in the Federal Register, are a precursor to imposing tariffs and threaten to broaden the president’s sweeping U.S. trade war.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a chart next to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick as Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on April 2.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 14, 2025
Trump warns tariffs are coming for electronics after reprieve
The American president downplayed a weekend exemption as a procedural step in his overall push to remake U.S. trade.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. TSMC could face a penalty of $1 billion or more to settle a U.S. export control investigation over a chip it made that ended up inside a Huawei artificial intelligence processor,
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 9, 2025
TSMC could face $1 billion or more fine from U.S. probe, sources say
The penalty is to settle a U.S. export control investigation over a chip it made that ended up inside a Huawei artificial intelligence processor.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s JASM plant in Kumamoto Prefecture. Ensuring stability in the semiconductor supply chain is a matter of national security and must be based on cooperation between the government and private sector.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 4, 2025
Identifying choke points in the semiconductor supply chain
Addressing bottlenecks in chipmaking is essential for Japan's economic security and requires public-private collaboration, including aimed at information sharing.
Rapidus is gearing up to mass produce semiconductors using 2-nanometer processes in 2027, which on paper would match Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 2, 2025
Rapidus begins pilot production of 2-nanometer chips in Hokkaido
The 2-year-old company aims to mass produce the next-generation semiconductors — vital for technologies such as artificial intelligence and autonomous driving — in 2027.
Chip startup Rapidus is set to receive as much as ¥802.5 billion in additional subsidies from the government.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 31, 2025
Japan earmarks another ¥802.5 billion for chip startup Rapidus
Rapidus is on track to get a pilot line online in April, executives said last week.
The launch of the test line will be an important milestone in Rapidus' aim of beginning mass production at the factory in 2027.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 29, 2025
Rapidus to launch pilot line for advanced chips on Tuesday
The launch of the test line will be an important milestone in Rapidus' aim of beginning mass production at the factory in 2027.
SoftBank Group has agreed to acquire semiconductor designer Ampere Computing.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 20, 2025
SoftBank seals $6.5 billion deal for chip designer Ampere
The move further broadens the Japanese investment firm’s push into artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (center left) and Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas (center right) during a ceremony to launch a collaboration between Malaysia and the chipmaker in Kuala Lumpur on March 5
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 19, 2025
Malaysia's Silicon Valley ambitions face tough challenges
Internal constraints such as a talent crunch, funding problems and other supply chain gaps present key hurdles to the Southeast Asian country.
Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
One month on, Osaka Expo urged to boost heat and crowd control measures
A gate to the Osaka Expo site is crowded with visitors on Monday.
Xi defiance pays off as Trump meets most China trade demands
Then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits a school in South Gate, California, in February 2012. Experts say Xi won big in his standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Japanese retailers turn to California rice for cheaper alternative
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass eats California rice at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday along with Mitsuko Tsuchiya, vice president of retailer Aeon.
Sumo title contenders already emerging in early stages of Tokyo meet
Onosato (left) battles Abi on Day 3 of the Summer Basho in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years
New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.
Japanese automakers looking at a ¥1 trillion hit from Trump tariffs 
Cars on display at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama on Tuesday. The automaker posted a massive annual net loss and confirmed that it plans to cut thousands of jobs worldwide.
Tokyo Stock Exchange wants stocks to be affordable for the average investor
The Tokyo Stock Exchange building in Nihonbashi. The exchange wants companies to lower the entry cost of investing in their shares.
Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.

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