Altheon Ventures

Round-up

Highlights

Washington tears up the “AI Diffusion Rule.” The U.S. Commerce Department scrapped the Biden‑era global cap on advanced‑AI chips and simultaneously warned that deploying Huawei Ascend processors “anywhere in the world” violates export rules—reshaping supply‑chain calculus overnight¹².
India green‑lights a ₹37 bn HCL‑Foxconn fab. New Delhi’s approval of the joint venture gives the country its second privately backed foundry and a direct line into Apple’s and Qualcomm’s supply chains³.
DRAM spot prices jump 6‑9 % in a week. Samsung and China’s CXMT quietly slashed DDR4 output, triggering a rush to stockpile and the sharpest one‑week spike of 2025⁴.

Other developments

EU breathes easier as the U.S. drops AI‑chip caps on allies⁵.
Seoul frets over Trump’s new export‑control bargaining tactics⁶.
Tower Semiconductor posts 9 % YoY growth and sticks to a “sequential up” outlook⁷.
Huawei‑linked SiCarrier seeks $2.8 bn to build home‑grown lithography and metrology tools⁸.
TSMC injects $3 bn‑plus into its Arizona unit via a new 3 m‑share issuance⁹.
Synopsys certifies flows for TSMC’s 1.6 nm “A16” node, putting angstrom‑scale EDA on the map¹⁰.
Aeluma teases wafer‑scale heterogeneous optics for AI sensors ahead of CS‑Mantech¹¹.

Did you know? Samsung’s latest DDR4 cuts trimmed industry output by roughly 8 % of weekly supply, yet pushed spot prices up almost 9 % in just six trading days—underscoring how thin today’s memory inventories really are⁴.

In‑depth

1. Government & Corporate Policy

AI Diffusion Rule revoked / Huawei clamp‑down
- Commerce rescinded the rule hours before it took effect, after heavy lobbying from Nvidia and U.S. allies¹.
- New guidance says using Huawei Ascend 910B/910C/910D chips without a U.S. licence is illegal worldwide².
- Industry lawyers expect a surge in “where‑is‑the‑GPU?” audits from BIS.
India’s HCL‑Foxconn fab licence
- ₹37.06 bn plant will focus on 28/40 nm nodes, targeting auto and industrial clients³.
- Complements the Tata‑Powerchip project approved in February, signalling bipartisan momentum behind India’s silicon mission.
U‑turn benefits Europe
- Brussels welcomed the rollback of U.S. AI chip caps, calling it a “win for transatlantic AI competitiveness”⁵.
- Expect accelerated GPU cluster builds in Germany, France, and the Nordics this summer.
White House softens message to allies
- AI & crypto czar David Sacks told a Riyadh forum that Washington can manage security “without choking exports to trusted partners”¹².

2. Economics, Finance & Business Outlook

Tower Semiconductor beats street
- Q1 revenue up 9 % YoY to $426 m; management guides “low‑teens” growth for FY‑25 on power‑management and RF demand⁷.
- Cap‑ex stays capped at $140 m as Intel foundry talks remain frozen post‑merger collapse.
SiCarrier’s $2.8 bn war chest
- Shenzhen‑backed toolmaker eyes 11 bn valuation to fund litho and AI‑inspection gear, but its Huawei ties worry local fabs⁸.
Memory squeeze lifts prices
- Samsung and CXMT cut DDR4 wafer starts, pushing 16 Gb 3200 MT/s spot to $2.25—a seven‑month high⁴.
- Module houses in Taiwan report “panic mini‑buys” from notebook OEMs.
TSMC Arizona capital infusion
- Subsidiary issued 3.05 m new shares at $1,000 par to parent; funds earmarked for packaging line #2 slated for 2027⁹.

3. Technology & R&D

India lands 3 nm design work
- Japan’s “JEI” (Japanese Electronics Inc.) opened Noida & Bengaluru centers for 3 nm logic and advanced DFT flows—India’s first crack at leading‑edge logic design¹³.
Synopsys + TSMC A16/N2P flows
- Certified backside‑routing and 3Dblox updates promise faster power‑delivery convergence at 1.6 nm¹⁰.
Aeluma heterogeneous optics
- Lab results show large‑area III‑V devices directly bonded to 300 mm silicon—potential shortcut to low‑cost LiDAR and quantum PICs¹¹.
China’s full‑stack equipment push
- Reuters “Explainer” details how SiCarrier plans to cover litho, etch and e‑beam inspection, challenging Naura & AMEC in under five years¹⁴.

May 14, 2025

Export controls flip, emerging markets surge