Round-up
Highlights
- Qualcomm snaps up Alphawave Semi for $2.4 billion. The U.S. mobile-to-AI giant is buying the London-listed serDes and UCIe specialist it coveted just days after Alphawave touted its 2 nm IP in our 5 June issue, accelerating Qualcomm’s in-house chiplet roadmap while paying a 96 % premium to March prices 1.
- Washington and Beijing reopen trade talks in London—with export controls, not tariffs, topping the agenda. Negotiators are haggling over AI-class GPU licences and faster rare-earth approvals as both sides try to de-risk supply chains before the U.S. election 2.
- China begins mass-production of the world’s first non-binary AI processor. Developed at Beihang University, the “Hybrid-Stochastic” chip blends probabilistic and binary logic, promising big power savings for avionics and displays—and a path around U.S. curbs 3.
Other developments
- IonQ buys Oxford Ionics for $1.08 billion to bulk up trapped-ion quantum IP 4
- Rare-earth magnet squeeze sends automakers “into full panic” as Chinese export permits stall 5
- TrendForce says Q1 foundry sales fell only 5.4 % thanks to tariff-driven rush orders and China’s consumer subsidies 6
- TSMC delays equipment move-in at its new AP7 packaging fab after two safety incidents 7
- Japan moves to shield its “indispensable” niche chip suppliers from foreign takeovers 8
- UK FCA teams with Nvidia to launch an AI compliance “super-sandbox” for banks this October 9
Did you know? The average electric vehicle packs over one pound of rare-earth magnets—double a combustion car’s load—explaining automakers’ alarm at the fresh Chinese bottleneck 5.
In-depth
1. Government & Corporate Policy
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US–China London talks
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Rare-earth magnet crunch
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Japan’s “economic security” screen
- Tokyo is strengthening FDI reviews after Yageo’s hostile bid for sensor maker Shibaura, aiming to keep core semiconductor and materials know-how onshore 8.
- The policy echoes the U.S. outbound-investment review now moving through Congress.
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UK AI sandbox with Nvidia
- Britain’s financial watchdog will let banks test generative-AI models on Nvidia DGX clusters inside a regulated cloud starting in Q4 9.
- The move is pitched as cutting compliance costs while giving regulators real-time visibility into model risk.
2. Economics, Finance & Business Outlook
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Qualcomm ↔ Alphawave deal
- The all-cash offer values Alphawave at 8.5× sales and follows Arm’s failed courtship earlier this year 1.
- Qualcomm gains high-speed chiplet I/O that slots neatly beside its Oryon CPU and NPU cores for datacentre AI.
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IonQ’s UK quantum grab
- Cash-and-stock structure caps shares issued between $30.22–$50.37, shielding IonQ from dilution swings 4.
- Oxford Ionics’ silicon-compatible trapped-ion tech will feed a new European hub, easing export-control friction.
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Foundry Q1 scorecard
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Packaging project slips
- TSMC’s Chiayi AP7 site—earmarked for wafer-level multi-chip modules—now targets Q4 tool move-in after forklift and scaffold accidents halted work 7.
- Analysts warn the slip could tighten 2026 CoWoS capacity for Apple and Nvidia.
3. Technology & R&D
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China’s non-binary AI chip hits the fab
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Intel’s 18A data-centre comeback
- Diamond Rapids (P-core) and Clearwater Forest (288 E-cores) are now confirmed for 2026 launch, both on Intel 18A with Foveros-Direct bonding 10.
- The giant LGA-9324 socket hints at bandwidth-hungry optical or glass-substrate interconnects.
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Advanced packaging hiccup
- AP7’s wafer-level MCM line will blend InFO and CoWoS flows, but the safety pause forces suppliers to re-book tool installs 7.
- TSMC still plans to double SoIC capacity via AP7/AP8, but schedule risk grows.
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Lead-free chalcogenide perovskites
- A SrHfSe₃ absorber paired with novel MXene hole-transport layers hit simulated 27.9 % efficiency, offering a stable, Pb-free path for on-chip PV or sensor power 11.
Footnotes
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https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/qualcomm-acquire-uks-alphawave-24-billion-2025-06-09/ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.semafor.com/article/06/08/2025/us-china-set-for-trade-talks-in-london-with-export-controls-expected-to-dominate ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3313349/beyond-1s-and-0s-china-starts-mass-production-worlds-first-non-binary-ai-chip ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/quantum-computing-firm-ionq-acquire-uk-based-oxford-ionics-108-billion-2025-06-09/ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/auto-companies-in-full-panic-over-rare-earths-bottleneck-2025-06-09/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20250609-12612.html ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.trendforce.com/news/2025/06/09/news-tsmc-reportedly-delays-equipment-move-in-at-ap7-advanced-packaging-facility-amid-safety-incidents/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.ft.com/content/e3e9e2f7-5ff1-4526-add4-f21dbc19bc03 ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/uk-financial-regulator-partners-with-nvidia-ai-sandbox-2025-06-09/ ↩︎ ↩︎
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https://www.trendforce.com/news/2025/06/09/news-intel-reported-to-launch-diamond-rapids-clearwater-forest-xeon-cpus-in-2026-reclaiming-data-center-market/ ↩︎
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https://techxplore.com/news/2025-06-class-srhfse-chalcogenide-perovskite-solar.html ↩︎