US President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation creating a new incentive program that would cut import tariffs on primary aluminum for companies that invest in expanding domestic smelting capacity, marking the latest effort by the administration to boost US metals production.

South Korean semiconductor materials and parts supplier CMTX has developed a roughly 590mm single-crystal silicon ground ring for chip-etching equipment and plans to begin customer validation as it scales production of the 600mm-class ingots used to make oversized chamber components.

TSMC has announced an additional US$100 billion investment in the US on top of its existing US$165 billion commitment, expanding its Arizona footprint to 12 fabs and one R&D center. While the market has focused on the size of the spending, investors are more concerned that overseas expansion could squeeze profitability.

Taiwan prosecutors have indicted four former TSMC employees for allegedly stealing confidential semiconductor technology with the intent of transferring it to China, marking the island's first criminal prosecution involving "national core technologies" under the National Security Act. According to Nikkei Asia, the case highlights Taiwan's intensifying efforts to safeguard its semiconductor leadership amid growing competition from China.

Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has criticized Intel's past strategy in a recent interview, revisiting the company's history with Nvidia and Apple while also weighing in on Taiwan Strait tensions and the outlook for quantum computing. Speaking at the RAISE Summit AI conference in Paris, he said Intel dismissed Nvidia GPUs at the height of its CPU dominance as nothing more than graphics tools for gamers.

Samsung Electronics is taking a slower approach than Intel to High-NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography for advanced chip production, weighing equipment spending against the need to restore foundry profitability. According to Chosun Biz, citing industry sources, the debate now centers less on yield than on financial returns.

TSMC Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang said the company expects AI chip demand to remain strong for years, prompting it to keep expanding investment in its Arizona site. After previously announcing an additional US$100 billion investment, TSMC has raised its total planned investment there to US$265 billion.

As AI server products accelerate their generational shift and demand higher-frequency, higher-speed transmission, the upgrade cycle for copper-clad laminate (CCL) materials in the PCB upstream supply chain has become firmly established. M7 and M8 specs are now mainstream, while M9 and M10 materials remain in the testing and validation stage, with mass production expected in 2027 or 2028.

Befar Group has begun producing semiconductor-grade hydrogen fluoride gas with a claimed purity of 6N, or 99.9999%, expanding the Chinese chemical supplier's presence in materials used for chip etching and chamber cleaning.

TSMC's sustained capital spending highlights the two foundations of its competitive strength: technology leadership and manufacturing excellence. The latter remains a core advantage not only for TSMC but also for the broader semiconductor ecosystem built around its production model.

Samsung Electronics is cutting over 800 jobs in the US from its smartphone, display, and consumer electronics business units. The division, part of Samsung Group, is facing a challenging market this year, in contrast to the soaring performance of its chip unit.

Samsung Electronics' latest multi-billion-dollar equipment procurement reflects the company's accelerating investment in AI memory capacity while raising a broader question about what is driving one of the industry's most aggressive fab expansion strategies.

Intel has accelerated its global footprint reset for 2026 after receiving investments from the US government, SoftBank, and Nvidia. Supply-chain sources said the company has relaunched its worldwide manufacturing sites, pushing ahead with Intel 18A mass production, 14A and high-NA EUV development, and advanced packaging programs including EMIB, EMIB-T, Foveros, and hybrid bonding (HB). The goal is to build an end-to-end manufacturing platform spanning advanced process nodes, chiplets, heterogeneous integration, and backend assembly and testing.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) announcement of an additional US$100 billion investment into US manufacturing has brought renewed attention to manufacturing in the US. The International Artificial Intelligence and Law Research Foundation (IAILRF) released the 2026 US-Taiwan Co-Make and Protection Strategy White Paper on July 17. Foundation secretary-general Wesley Chu said that for Taiwanese companies, investing in the US is no longer a question of whether to go, but how to go.

AI is redrawing the rules of semiconductor competition, pushing materials suppliers beyond simple chemical inputs and toward integrated technologies, equipment, services, and system solutions. Merck said that as chip manufacturing advances from 2nm toward 1.4nm, the industry is moving closer to atomic-scale production, where competition will hinge on the broader ecosystem spanning materials, process technology, advanced packaging, and co-packaged optics (CPO).

TSMC raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to US$60–64 billion during its second-quarter earnings conference, with a substantial share earmarked for the US. Although Singapore tried to attract a TSMC fab, the chipmaker ultimately chose not to commit. Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation (VIS), however, has received strong backing from TSMC for VisionPower Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (VSMC), its joint venture with NXP Semiconductors. VSMC's new 12-inch foundry in Singapore is scheduled to formally open in late September. DIGITIMES was granted an exclusive early look inside the facility.