May 28, 2025

Round-up

Highlights

1. Tokyo dangles ¥1 trillion ($6.9 bn) order book for U-made semis. Japan told Washington it will subsidise local firms to buy Nvidia-class parts from US suppliers in exchange for tariff relief, handing negotiators a concrete sweetener ahead of talks that start Friday. ¹
2. Nvidia’s GB200 AI racks finally leave the factory. Suppliers say they have fixed overheating, coolant-leak and inter-chip sync bugs, unlocking volume shipments of the 72-GPU “data-centre in a rack” after months of delays. ²
3. Saudi Arabia’s Humain stakes $23 bn on AI hardware — and wants more. The kingdom’s new state-owned AI champion has inked huge supply deals with Nvidia, AMD, AWS and Qualcomm and is raising a $10 bn VC war-chest to pull more design talent into Riyadh. ³

Other developments

• TSMC’s voracious CoWoS demand sparks a BT-substrate shortage that is now rippling into NAND-controller lead-times ⁴
• Taiwan trims its 2025 GDP outlook on tariff jitters, even as export forecasts rise ⁵
• TrendForce warns permanent 25 % US chip tariffs could shave $1.4 trn from US GDP over a decade ⁶
• Chinese and European chip firms pledge deeper collaboration at a Beijing round-table ⁷
• Beijing unveils an 18-point blueprint to overhaul domestic IT-hardware makers by 2027 ⁸
• Sparkle shows dual-GPU Intel Arc B60 boards aimed at AI inference and CAD workstations ⁹
• An early RTX 5090 prototype with four 16-pin connectors hints at 2.4 kW boards for HPC/AI niches ¹⁰

Did you know? Tokyo startup EdgeCortix just became the first Japanese semiconductor outfit to win a US Defense Innovation Unit contract — and this morning it secured ¥3 bn in government R&D subsidies to tape-out an energy-efficient AI chiplet. ¹¹

In-depth

1 — Government & Corporate Policy

• Japan’s tariff counter-offer

  • Plan subsidises up to ¥1 tn of US chip purchases to cut Washington’s trade deficit. ¹
  • Focus is reportedly on AI accelerators and advanced FPGA modules.
  • Move could also qualify buyers for future CHIPS-Act export credit.

• China–EU semiconductor détente

  • 40+ firms met in Beijing, calling for “intensified mutual supply-chain support.” ⁷
  • European attendees said joint R&D on power devices and SiC packaging is on the table.
  • Comes as Brussels mulls Chips Act 2.0 funding — covered in yesterday’s newsletter.

• Beijing’s post-‘Made in China 2025’ blueprint

  • 18-point plan targets 85 % CNC automation inside two years and a national industrial database by 2030. ⁸
  • Explicit priority on semiconductor equipment, batteries and AI system-on-chip design.
  • Local analysts call it “export-control shock-proofing.”

• Tariff impact quantified

  • TrendForce models a cumulative $1.4 trn US GDP drag from permanent 25 % duties, with AI servers and autos hardest-hit. ⁶
  • Report urges phased exemptions for leading-edge GPUs and EV power ICs.

2 — Economics, Finance & Business Outlook

• Taiwan walks back growth hopes

  • Stats bureau cuts 2025 GDP view to 3.1 % as tariff clouds loom, despite lifting export growth to 9 %. ⁵
  • First-quarter GDP still surged 5.5 % on AI-chip demand.
  • Inflation forecast eased to 1.88 %, giving the central bank breathing room.

• Petrodollars power Gulf AI push

  • Humain’s $23 bn in chip deals and a planned 6.6 GW data-centre fleet aim to process 7 % of global AI training by 2030. ³
  • A new $10 bn VC fund will target US-EU silicon startups willing to co-locate IP in KSA.
  • Analysts flag cooling-water constraints, not capital, as the key risk.

• Soitec hits the brakes

  • French wafer specialist withdrew full-year and medium-term guidance and replaced its CFO amid an auto-chip slump. ¹²
  • Expects Q1 revenue to fall 20 % Y/Y; will now guide only quarterly.

• EdgeCortix raises the stakes

  • ¥3 bn subsidy supports a 2027 chiplet for edge inference; revenue seen doubling this year. ¹¹
  • Firm already holds a US DIU contract for secure satellite comms AI.
  • Signals Tokyo’s pivot toward defence-aligned semiconductor projects.

3 — Technology & R&D

• GB200 ship-date secured

  • Cooling-system redesign and firmware fixes let Foxconn-built racks enter volume production. ²
  • Supply-chain sources expect >30 k units shipped by Q4, easing H100 shortages.
  • Nvidia reportedly reused older “Bianca” boards to keep schedules on track.

• Substrate squeeze

  • Mitsubishi Gas Chemical warns of BT-resin delays as CoWoS lines consume capacity. ⁴
  • NAND-controller houses are scrambling to pre-buy six months of stock.
  • Could translate into SSD price bumps later in the year.

• Dual-GPU Intel cards surface

  • Sparkle’s Arc B60 boards pair two 200 W GPUs and 24 GB GDDR6 each under blower, passive or liquid coolers. ⁹
  • Aimed at AI inference clusters and CAD render farms where licensing costs trump raw TOPS.
  • Shipments expected “in the coming months” pending demand.

• Extreme-power RTX 5090 prototype leaked

  • Destroyed engineering sample showed four 16-pin connectors — a theoretical 2.4 kW ceiling. ¹⁰
  • Likely an HPC or Pro variant, not the gamer SKU; illustrates Nvidia’s willingness to push ATX power envelopes.
  • Board also carried five video outputs and diagnostic headers for lab use.

Footnotes