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NVIDIA shares are on a dramatically firmer footing today, last up over 2.5 percent in pre-market trading and helped along by a dovish PPI reading in the US, reports of a gradual tariff hike path under the incoming Trump administration 2.0, and a soothing report out of TSMC. Meanwhile, China's semiconductor industry is predictably still reeling from the expansive curbs placed by the outgoing Biden administration yesterday.
We reported yesterday that NVIDIA's Blackwell AI servers purportedly continue to face overheating and glitching issues, apparently prompting the chipmaker's mega customers, including Microsoft, Google, and Meta, to pare their respective Blackwell orders.
According to The Information, Blackwell's woes stem from the "way [those] chips connect," alluding to a possible flaw within TSMC's bespoke advanced packaging solution, Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS). Of course, NVIDIA has previously declared that it rectified Blackwell's performance-related teething issues by implementing minor changes to the photomask, a specific template that is used to create patterns on chip wafers.
This brings us to the crux of the matter. DigiTimes is now reporting that, contrary to The Information's report, TSMC has "maintained" its Blackwell orders, negating the rumored decrease in orders from NVIDIA's mega customers.
CHINA SEMICONDUCTOR ASSOCIATION: CALLS ON GLOBAL TECH INDUSTRY TO JOINTLY RESIST THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION'S 'TECHNOLOGICAL HEGEMONY'
CHINA SEMICONDUCTOR ASSOCIATION: CHINA HAS THE ABILITY AND CONFIDENCE TO WORK TOGETHER WITH THE GLOBAL AI INDUSTRY TO ACHIEVE INDEPENDENT…
— First Squawk (@FirstSquawk) January 14, 2025
Elsewhere, the China Semiconductor Association has now issued a scathing statement on the Biden administration's latest steps to control AI diffusion, slamming what it sees as American "technological hegemony" and calling on the ex-US global tech industry to offer joint resistance.
We reported yesterday that the outgoing Biden administration has now significantly tightened the US export controls around AI chips, all in a bid to restrict AI diffusion. Among other conditions, the new rules now require companies to meet specific trust and safety standards or face a curb on the number of advanced AI chips that they can procure.
For its part, NVIDIA has slammed Biden administration's AI diffusion rules by declaring that they will "stifle innovation and undermine America’s global technology leadership." The statement went on to note that "this rule will only harm the U.S. economy, set America back, and play into the hands of U.S. adversaries."
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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