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TSMC Q3 revenue jumps 30% on AI-fueled chip demand, beats forecasts

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, posted a 30% year-on-year surge in third-quarter revenue, driven by the global boom in artificial intelligence demand. The company’s performance outpaced analyst expectations, reaffirming its dominance in the semiconductor supply chain that powers AI leaders like Nvidia and Apple.

Revenue for the July–September period reached T$989.92 billion ($32.47 billion), surpassing the T$973.26 billion consensus estimate from 22 analysts compiled by LSEG SmartEstimate. The figure landed in the midpoint of TSMC’s July guidance of $31.8 billion–$33 billion, according to its previous earnings call.

The strong result underscores how AI-related chip demand is offsetting slower sales of consumer electronics such as smartphones and tablets. TSMC’s cutting-edge chips are essential for powering advanced AI systems and high-performance computing, both of which have fueled a new growth cycle for the company.

TSMC’s Taipei-listed shares have climbed 34% year-to-date, outpacing the broader Taiwan index’s 18.5% gain. Analysts expect the company’s October 16 earnings report to include a revised full-year outlook, likely reflecting continued AI-driven momentum.

The upbeat results mirror a wider surge across Taiwan’s tech sector: Foxconn, Nvidia’s largest server manufacturer, also posted record-high third-quarter revenue, signaling sustained strength in the AI hardware supply chain.

Nvidia-backed Reflection AI secures $2 billion funding, valued at $8 billion

Reflection AI, a fast-rising artificial intelligence startup backed by Nvidia, announced on Thursday it has raised $2 billion in fresh funding, pushing its valuation to $8 billion. The massive round underscores investor enthusiasm for startups automating software development through AI.

The funding attracted major names, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Citi, Donald Trump Jr.-backed 1789 Capital, and existing investors Lightspeed and Sequoia. Reflection AI, founded in 2024 by former DeepMind researchers Misha Laskin and Ioannis Antonoglou, builds AI systems that can autonomously write, test, and optimize software — a rapidly expanding niche within the AI industry.

The new valuation marks a huge leap from the company’s last funding round, when it raised $130 million at a $545 million valuation, according to PitchBook.

Investor appetite for AI ventures remains robust. Global venture capital funding jumped 38% year-over-year in Q3 2025 to $97 billion, with nearly half of that going to AI companies. Reflection AI’s momentum reflects how automation-focused startups are drawing capital on par with heavyweights like OpenAI and China’s DeepSeek.

The company said the funds will accelerate product expansion and recruitment as it scales operations globally amid intensifying competition in AI-driven coding tools.

U.S. approves multi-billion-dollar Nvidia chip exports to UAE, Bloomberg reports

The U.S. government has approved several billion dollars’ worth of Nvidia chip exports to the United Arab Emirates, according to Bloomberg News. The export licenses were issued by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security as part of a bilateral artificial intelligence agreement reached in May.

The deal will enable the UAE to build large-scale data centers essential for developing and training advanced AI models, deepening technological cooperation between the two countries. In return, the UAE has committed to making a reciprocal investment in the U.S., the report said.

An official from the Commerce Department told Bloomberg the agency is “fully committed to the transformational U.S.–UAE AI partnership deal.” Neither Nvidia nor the White House commented directly on the report, and UAE representatives could not be reached.

The export agreement is expected to allow the Emirates to import up to 500,000 of Nvidia’s high-performance AI chips annually starting in 2025, under a framework that could extend through 2030, as Reuters reported earlier this year.

The approval aligns with President Donald Trump’s renewed Gulf outreach, which in May yielded $600 billion in commitments from Saudi Arabia, including chip deals with Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm. The move strengthens Washington’s push to build regional AI alliances amid intensifying global competition for computing power.