US regulators have introduced a new inspection protocol for Nvidia's H200 accelerators destined for China, requiring chips manufactured by TSMC to be shipped to the US for national security review before they can be re-exported. The unusual routing underscores Washington's effort to maintain visibility over advanced computing hardware as global memory shortages threaten to slow new data center deployments through 2027.

Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) said it has developed a nanoimprint template capable of producing 1.4nm chips using only one-tenth of the power required by extreme ultraviolet lithography tools.

PCB and semiconductor equipment manufacturer Ta Liang Technology reported a surge in orders as AI chip and AI server demand solidifies. Customers have been investing to expand capacity, driving demand for high-end CCD back-drilling machines, semiconductor advanced packaging measurement, and automated optical inspection (AOI) equipment to increase in 2025. This pushed cumulative revenue for the first 11 months of 2025 beyond the total for 2024, setting a record.

Given ODM manufacturers' expansion plans, there are no signs of an AI bubble. MiTAC plans to bring four factories online in 2026. Its new plant at the Linkou headquarters can flexibly adjust production according to its strong customer order demand.

A Dutch television investigation has raised fresh questions about the reach of ASML's technology inside China. According to a December 9, 2025, report by Nieuwsuur, at least one of ASML's customers is linked to the Chinese military.

Benefiting from solid order momentum across its technology and consumer-related business groups, cleanroom electromechanical integrator Acter Group posted consolidated revenue of NT$3.73 billion (US$119.6 million) in November 2025, up 20% year-over-year. Consolidated revenue for the first 11 months of 2025 reached NT$37.43 billion, up 41% year-over-year, with both setting new historical highs for the same period. Facility engineering projects for clients in semiconductors, electronic components, cloud computing, and general consumer sectors have been steadily recognized according to Acter's schedule. Demand for cleanroom upgrades and retrofits in existing factories continues to climb and increase business.

Recent reports suggest one big reason US President Donald Trump has allowed exports of Nvidia's H200 AI chips to China is Huawei's rapid rise in AI computing. Bloomberg cites multiple sources, stating that after White House officials reviewed Huawei's Ascend series chips and its CloudMatrix 384 AI-native cloud infrastructure platform, they concluded that Huawei's overall performance is now approaching Nvidia's advanced Blackwell-based NVL72 platform. This significantly reduces the need for a total ban on AI chip exports to China.

China has reportedly added domestic artificial intelligence processors to its official government procurement list for the first time, according to the Financial Times. The move signals a major effort to accelerate semiconductor self-reliance even as the US authorizes limited exports of Nvidia's advanced H200 chips to the country. The policy shift raises questions over how China will balance its push for indigenous development with continued demand for high-end US hardware.

Google's latest TPU gains have rattled the AI hardware market, but IC distributors maintain that Nvidia's GPU-led ecosystem still sets the benchmark for modern AI compute. TPUs may edge out GPUs in some LLM workloads, yet Nvidia's end-to-end stack, from CUDA to silicon to systems, keeps its lead firmly intact, reinforced further by the Jetson Thor platform for edge AI.