Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

• AMD AND ANTHROPIC SIGN MAJOR CHIPS-AND-INVESTMENT DEAL
  

• THE 2-GIGAWATT DEAL COVERS TENS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS’ WORTH OF CHIPS, AS AMD PLANS TO INVEST UP TO $5 BILLION IN ANTHROPIC
  

• AMD IS ALSO IN TALKS TO PROVIDE A FINANCIAL BACKSTOP FOR ANTHROPIC’S FUTURE DATA CENTER LEASES AS WELL
  

• ANTHROPIC WILL PURCHASE UP TO 2 GIGAWATTS OF AMD’S LATEST-GENERATION CHIPS, CALLED THE INSTINCT MI450, STARTING IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2027
  

• Industry executives have said 1 gigawatt of computing power, enough to power roughly 750,000 U.S. homes, can cost around $50 billion.
  
  Advanced Micro Devices and Anthropic have signed a deal for tens of billions of dollars' worth of artificial-intelligence servers, strengthening AMD's competitive position against industry leader Nvidia and supplying Anthropic with much-needed computing power.
  

Under the terms of the agreement, Anthropic will purchase up to 2 gigawatts of AMD's latest-generation chips, called the Instinct MI450, starting in the first half of 2027. AMD will also invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic—its first check into the AI firm—as certain deployment milestones are met.

"We have very much wanted to be a major part of their infrastructure," AMD Chief Executive Lisa Su said, adding that the companies' engineering teams have been working together for some time.

Anthropic runs computing workloads across chips including GOOGL ... Google's tensor-processing units, AMZN ... Amazon.com's Trainium chips, and Nvidia graphics processing units, or GPUs. As part of the deal, Anthropic will buy some AMD chips for its own data centers as well as lease some of the capacity via other large cloud providers or neoclouds. Anthropic and AMD are working together to identify data centers for the chips, Su said.

"You can't just wake up one morning and say, 'Oh, I want a gigawatt of compute tomorrow,'" Su said. "You actually have to plan, you...

Ohio Emerges as a New Hub for Korean Chips

When Intel began construction of its massive campus in New Albany, Ohio, in 2022, the project looked like the return of an iconic American manufacturer to its home soil after decades of expanding production overseas. Four hundred hectares of land, enough space for eight semiconductor fabrication plants, and promises of hundreds of billions of dollars in investment were all supposed to symbolize the revival of the American semiconductor industry. However, as often happens, reality introduced some harsh adjustments.

Today, four years later, this ambitious project is hanging by a thread, and its future may end up in the hands of a competitor: South Korea’s SK hynix. Negotiations over a possible acquisition of the Ohio campus are reportedly taking place behind closed doors. Although the potential purchase price remains closely guarded, the very possibility of such a transaction has shaken the markets and prompted analysts to reconsider the balance of power within the global semiconductor industry.

For SK hynix, this would not simply be another deal aimed at increasing production capacity. It would be a strategic move capable of completely transforming the company’s position in the US market while also satisfying growing political pressure from Washington. For several years, the US administration has urged semiconductor manufacturers to move production facilities to American soil and reduce their dependence on Asian manufacturing. SK hynix appears ready to answer that call—not by building an entirely new factory from scratch, but by purchasing infrastructure that is already close to completion.

Interestingly, the Korean company already has experience working with former Intel assets. In 2020, SK hynix agreed to acquire Intel’s NAND flash memory business for $9 billion, making it the largest transaction in the company’s history. Now, another piece of Intel’s former empire may be up...

Introduction: A Whitelist Instead of Gray-Market Schemes

In the world of advanced technology, where artificial intelligence chips have become a strategic resource, the struggle to control their distribution is entering a new phase. Nvidia ( NVDA ... ) , the leading manufacturer of graphics processors used for AI, has reduced by more than half the number of Asian customers authorized to purchase its products. The decision is part of stricter compliance procedures designed to prevent the circumvention of export restrictions.

The company has created a new whitelist of approved Asian buyers and strengthened its customer due diligence procedures in Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan. According to the Financial Times, the new screening process excluded more than half of Nvidia’s previous customers. However, companies may reapply after addressing the identified compliance issues.

These measures come amid broader US efforts to close loopholes that allow Chinese companies to gain access to Nvidia’s advanced chips despite strict export restrictions. This article examines the reasons behind the tighter rules, assesses their impact on the market, and considers what may lie ahead for the industry.

Reasons for the Crackdown: Pressure from Washington and the Fight Against Smuggling

Export Restrictions on AI Chips

Washington has imposed strict export restrictions on the sale of AI chips to China since at least 2021. These measures are intended to prevent China from gaining access to advanced technologies that could be used for military purposes and to strengthen the country’s economic capabilities.

As a key manufacturer of AI chips, Nvidia is under close scrutiny from US authorities. The company must balance compliance with US legislation against its desire to retain access to the profitable Chinese market.

Allegations of $2.5 Billion in Chip Smuggling

In March, US prosecutors charged one of Supermicro’s co-founders and two company employees with allegedly organizing the smuggling of...