US President Donald Trump has announced that Nvidia's H200 will be allowed to return to the Chinese market after Jensen Huang's lobbying efforts. Nvidia is expected to resume securing revenue from China.

The US government's decision to ease restrictions on exporting Nvidia's H200 AI chip to China marks a significant victory for one of the world's most influential computing companies. It also signals a subtle but unmistakable shift in Washington's China tech strategy—from a rigid, across-the-board blockade to a more transactional, negotiable system of conditional controls.

Smart healthcare is poised to drive Taiwan's next industrial upgrade with a projected output of NT$2.3 billion (US$73.5 billion), at growth rates surpassing even the semiconductor industry. Although Taiwan's world-leading healthcare and ICT industries have mostly evolved on parallel tracks without intersecting, industry experts believe that bridging supply and demand between the two could lead to another wave of strong momentum. However, smart healthcare goes beyond hardware manufacturing, and instead emphasizes comprehensive solutions where data and AI functionality could lead the way.

Due to the lack of a significant surge in edge AI demand in 2025 and China's push for chip localization, Taiwan-based IC design houses are increasingly losing ground in global competition. Research institutions predict that by 2026, Taiwanese IC designers may cede their second-place revenue position to Chinese firms.

As 2025 nears its end, negotiations over the US Section 232 tariffs closely tied to Taiwan's semiconductor and ICT exports remain unresolved. The US government's expectation of a "50-50 chip split" has yet to receive a commitment from Taiwan. However, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te recently sent a positive message in an interview with US media, stating that Taiwan is willing to assist the US in chip production, and that if the US provides policy support, achieving the "50-50 chip split" goal is possible. This marks a significant shift in the government's stance toward US expectations based on mutual benefits.

Qatar has established a national-level AI company, Qai, fully owned by its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), to invest in domestic and international AI infrastructure and provide high-performance computing services. This move marks Qatar's official entry into the Gulf region's accelerated AI development competition.

After US President Donald Trump approved Nvidia's H200 exports to China on 9 December, domestic GPU start-up Moore Threads responded with rapid action.

As generative AI applications accelerate, public debates over whether AI will ultimately replace humans have intensified. Benjamin Joe, Meta Platforms' regional vice president for Asia Pacific, recently weighed in, stressing that while current AI models are powerful, they remain far from achieving human-like autonomy and proactive decision-making abilities.

Russia has fallen behind China and the US in artificial intelligence (AI) development, hindered by supply restrictions on critical hardware, international sanctions, and a significant outflow of skilled professionals. Despite President Vladimir Putin's repeated calls for Russia to lead in the AI field, experts widely acknowledge that catching up is no longer feasible.

Trend Micro predicts that enterprise protection priorities in 2025 will be closely linked to AI technology development, but the market for actual implementation is still in its early stages. General Manager Bob Hung said that while customer inquiries about AI cybersecurity solutions are very high, actual order volumes remain limited. At this stage, revenue contributions still primarily come from traditional cybersecurity products.

The Indo-Pacific region has become the world's most critical theater for both technology manufacturing and geopolitical competition. As military tensions escalate across East Asia, executives are increasingly questioning whether their supply chains can withstand potential disruptions.

Baidu is considering a spin-off and listing of its AI chip unit Kunlunxin, a development that has quickly become a focal point in China's fast-moving GPU and AI semiconductor market. The company said it is evaluating the potential listing but noted any move would require regulatory clearance and is not guaranteed.

OpenAI has introduced a new safety research approach designed to improve honesty and transparency in large language models (LLMs). The method requires the model to provide a "confession" after answering a query, in which it self-assesses whether it lied, took shortcuts, or deviated from instructions, while also disclosing uncertainties and subjective judgments.

Apple chip leader Johny Srouji has reassured staff that he plans to stay with the firm for the foreseeable future, following reports that states he considered leaving for another tech company.

South Korea aims to be a leading AI powerhouse, yet a report from the Korea Industrial Technology Association (KOITA) shows that only 56% of its AI startups last over three years. These companies rely significantly on external funding, highlighting a fragile R&D base in the industry.

Google said it plans to introduce its first AI-enabled smart glasses in 2026, expanding its push into consumer AI devices and positioning itself against rivals such as Meta. The company is developing two product categories: audio-only glasses that interface with its Gemini assistant, and eyewear with built-in displays capable of showing navigation, translations, and other augmented-reality overlays.

IBM said on December 8 that it has agreed to acquire Confluent in an all-cash deal valuing the data-streaming company at US$11 billion. Under the agreement, IBM will purchase all outstanding Confluent shares for US$31 each, a price approved by both companies' boards and supported by Confluent shareholders representing about 62% of voting power. The transaction, funded with IBM's cash on hand, is expected to close by mid-2026 pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.

US President Donald Trump said his administration will allow Nvidia to ship H200 AI accelerators to approved customers in China under conditions tied to national-security reviews and a 25% revenue payment to the US government. The move marks a major shift in Washington's chip-export approach and offers Nvidia a partial win after months of lobbying.

Facing US reciprocal tariffs that have dampened global consumer markets and ongoing price wars from China's PCB industry, flexible printed circuit (FPC) manufacturers relying solely on traditional businesses have seen their operations suppressed in recent years. Major players like Flexium Interconnect and Career Technology reported revenue declines throughout 2025 and remain in loss-adjustment phases.

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei recently gave a public talk at the Huawei Lianqiuhu R&D Center in Shanghai. He shared insights on AI, quantum computing, computing power, and chips. He also answered questions from domestic and foreign researchers about the US-China tech competition.

According to the latest report published by DIGITIMES Asia, global data center AI chip shipments are projected to grow from 30.5 million units in 2024 to 53.4 million units in 2030. This data center AI chip category includes high-end and mid-range GPUs, application-specific AI chips (such as Google's TPUs), AI server CPUs, and networking/interconnect-related chips (e.g., Switch ASICs/rack-scale-up Interconnect Chips/DPUs & NICs).

The global electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and original design manufacturing (ODM) supply chain experienced many structural changes during the third quarter of 2025. In the face of generative AI competition and geopolitical pressure, the global supply chain has been reshaped. For China's electronics manufacturers, this shift is a transformation from "Made in China" to becoming global manufacturing service providers.

According to DIGITIMES' latest EMS/ODM revenue ranking report, Taiwan has a significant dominance in the sector. Taiwanese firms account for 70% of the top 20 EMS/ODM companies, with Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision) maintaining its position as the world's largest contract manufacturer in the third quarter of 2025, driven by growth in artificial intelligence (AI) and its close ties with Apple.

These are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories in the week of December 1 to December 7, 2025.