May 27, 2025

Blackwell Reloaded, Europe Repositions, EUV Standoff Holds

Round-up

Highlights

  1. Nvidia pivots again: a lower-spec Blackwell GPU priced at $6.5–8 k will ship as early as June to keep the company in China’s AI-server market after Washington blocked the H20 accelerator 1.
  2. Europe turns from fabs to brains: TSMC will open a Munich Design Centre this autumn, cementing Germany as its R-&-D bridgehead while Dresden construction continues 2.
  3. Washington doubles-down on EUV controls: Trump-campaign tech adviser David Sacks called the China EUV ban “the single most important export control,” a sharp contrast to the warmer tone Beijing sought only four days earlier in our 23 May edition 34.

Other developments

  • German telco-software consortium seeks EU funds for a €20 bn “AI gigafactory” 5
  • Oracle will buy about $40 bn of Nvidia GB200s for OpenAI’s Texas “Stargate” data-centre 6
  • ASML disclosed another $61 m of share buy-backs in the week to 23 May 7
  • Tom’s Hardware confirms Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D (a.k.a. B40) as the Blackwell part headed for China 8
  • Researchers demonstrated a frequency-doubled dual-comb source on-chip at 420 nm—useful for integrated quantum-sensor schemes 9

Did you know? Nvidia’s downgrade still skirts right up to the 1.7-1.8 TB/s memory-bandwidth ceiling the U.S. now enforces—just 15 % of the H20’s throughput but exactly the level investment bank Jefferies predicted regulators would allow 1.


In-depth

1 · Government & Corporate Policy

  • EUV embargo stays on the books

    • Trump-campaign adviser David Sacks said lifting the EUV block “would gut the most effective U.S. leverage” 3.
    • The statement undercuts earlier hope of a China–Netherlands thaw covered in our 23 May newsletter 4.
  • EU pitches “AI gigafactories”

    • Deutsche Telekom, SAP, Ionos and Schwarz are bidding to host one of five EU-funded centres; expressions of interest are due 20 June 5.
    • Chips and cheap power are explicit gating items—good news for European foundry and packaging suppliers.
  • Design—not wafers—becomes Europe’s lure

    • TSMC’s Munich hub will help automotive and industrial clients co-optimise advanced nodes and 3-D packaging 2.
    • The move follows Intel’s and GlobalFoundries’ separate German expansions, signalling an ecosystem approach rather than a single-supplier model.
  • China-specific GPUs mark new compliance template

    • Nvidia’s Blackwell cut-down chip eschews HBM and CoWoS, showing how export-control rules are now baked into product definition 1.

2 · Economics, Finance & Business Outlook

  • $40 bn OpenAI cluster order

    • Oracle will lease 400 k GB200 accelerators to OpenAI at its Abilene, TX site, financed by $9.6 bn in JPMorgan loans 6.
    • The multiyear pipeline provides Nvidia a buffer against potential export-curb revenue hits.
  • ASML keeps feeding investors

    • The lithography leader repurchased ~93 k shares (avg €657) between 19–23 May, part of a €12 bn 2022–25 plan 7.
    • Buy-backs have trimmed free-float by 2.4 % since January, a lever as EUV demand faces geopolitical overhangs.
  • AI infrastructure gold-rush in Europe

    • Germany’s proposed AI data-centre would tap the EC’s new €20 bn fund, with Luxembourg, France and Spain also angling for projects 5.
    • The scramble could tighten regional demand for high-bandwidth memory and liquid-cooling gear in 2026-27.
  • Share-price read-through

    • Tom’s Hardware estimates the B40’s bill-of-materials at half the H20’s, suggesting Nvidia may defend margin even at a lower ASP 8.

3 · Technology & R-&-D

  • Blackwell 6000D/B40 revealed

    • Server-class GPU uses GDDR7, avoids NVLink and advanced packaging, and still nudges the export-bandwidth limit 18.
    • Mass production is slated for June with general availability by Q3.
  • Integrated UV dual-comb chip

    • NIST researchers doubled a chirped dual comb to 420 nm on-chip, opening doors for compact quantum sensors and trace-gas meters 9.
    • The approach claims phase-stability advantages over discrete laser architectures.
  • Design-enablement shift to Europe

    • TSMC’s Munich centre will staff mixed-signal and RF teams to help auto Tier-1s migrate to 3 nm and chiplet-based ADAS 2.
    • ESD-safe labs and a 500-petaflop internal cluster are planned.
  • AI-ready data-centre spec takes shape

    • The German consortium’s gigafactory plan includes on-premise 400 MW solar-plus-battery installation—hinting at the power-infrastructure dimension of future chip demand 5.