The Circuit EP: 126 NVIDIA/AMD Back in China! TSMC Earnings, and Agentic AI Causes Total Infra Upgrade
Jul 21, 2025
Competitive dynamics in the AI and semiconductor industries heat up as Nvidia and AMD get the green light to sell modified chipsets to China. TSMC's recent earnings spotlight the urgent need for infrastructure upgrades to keep pace with the booming AI market. The rise of agentic AI pushes the conversation on technology's evolution, particularly in how it blends with human intuition. Meanwhile, the impact of Synopsys acquiring Ansys and shifts in leadership at Marvell signal big changes ahead for the tech landscape.
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Nvidia/AMD Chip Sales to China Approved
- Nvidia and AMD received approval to sell modified chipsets to China, bringing optimism to the AI trade sector.
- Politicking by company leaders helped ensure they wouldn't be locked out of the Chinese market permanently.
Waivers Signal Trade Easing
- Nvidia’s share in China dropped to 50% from 95% due to bans but is expected to rebound with new waivers.
- The waivers signal a possible easing of US-China trade tensions around tech sales.
Huawei Competes Despite Constraints
- Huawei’s AI accelerators perform well but lag behind Nvidia’s top chips.
- China can compensate performance gaps by building more data centers and leveraging abundant electricity.