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US approves Samsung, SK Hynix chipmaking tool shipments to China for 2026, sources say

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The U.S. government has approved annual licences allowing Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to ship chipmaking equipment to their factories in China in 2026, according to two people familiar with the matter. The move offers temporary relief to the South Korean firms amid tightening U.S. export controls.

One source said Washington has introduced an annual approval system for exports of semiconductor manufacturing tools to China. The decision follows a U.S. move earlier this year to revoke licence waivers that had allowed certain technology companies to continue shipments with fewer restrictions.

Previously, Samsung, SK Hynix and TSMC benefited from exemptions under Washington’s broad chip export restrictions targeting China. That special status, known as validated end user (VEU), is set to expire on December 31. After that date, shipments of U.S.-origin chipmaking equipment to their Chinese facilities will require individual export licences.

Samsung and SK Hynix declined to comment, while TSMC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Department of Commerce was not available for comment outside business hours.

The policy shift reflects Washington’s broader effort to curb China’s access to advanced American technology. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has been reassessing export controls it considers overly permissive under the previous Biden administration, according to people familiar with the matter.

China remains a critical manufacturing base for Samsung and SK Hynix, particularly for legacy memory chips. Demand for such chips has surged amid rapid expansion of AI data centres and tighter global supply, underscoring why continued access to chipmaking tools for their Chinese plants remains strategically important for the South Korean companies.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Reports Surging Demand for Blackwell Chips

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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on Saturday that demand for the company’s cutting-edge Blackwell AI chips is “very strong,” as the semiconductor giant deepens its partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to meet soaring global demand.

Speaking at an event hosted by TSMC in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Huang said Nvidia’s Blackwell platform — which integrates GPUs, CPUs, networking, and switching systems — requires an extensive supply of wafers and components. “We build the GPU, but we also build the CPU, the networking, the switches… there are a lot of chips associated with Blackwell,” he explained.

TSMC CEO C.C. Wei confirmed that Huang had “asked for wafers,” but declined to disclose quantities. “TSMC is doing a very good job supporting us,” Huang said, emphasizing that Nvidia’s record-breaking success “would not be possible without TSMC.”

In October, Nvidia became the first company to surpass a $5 trillion market value, prompting Wei to call Huang a “five-trillion-dollar man.”

When asked about supply challenges, Huang acknowledged there would be “shortages of different things,” though memory makers SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron have expanded capacity to meet demand. Nvidia has already received next-generation memory samples from all three suppliers.

SK Hynix recently said it had sold out all production for 2026, forecasting a long-lasting chip “super cycle” driven by AI growth. Samsung is also in “close discussion” to supply HBM4 memory to Nvidia.

Huang reiterated that Nvidia has no active discussions to sell Blackwell chips to China, as U.S. restrictions remain in place.

China’s CXMT Plans $42 Billion Shanghai IPO to Fuel AI Chip Ambitions

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ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), China’s leading memory chipmaker, is preparing for a Shanghai initial public offering (IPO) as early as the first quarter of 2026, targeting a valuation of up to 300 billion yuan ($42.1 billion), according to sources familiar with the matter. The listing would mark one of China’s largest tech IPOs in years and a major step in Beijing’s drive for semiconductor self-sufficiency.

Founded in 2016 with state backing, CXMT is China’s main producer of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips — a market long dominated by Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology. The company aims to raise between 20 billion and 40 billion yuan, two sources said, while a third suggested about 30 billion yuan, with a prospectus possibly unveiled in November.

CXMT’s IPO plans come amid a surge in Chinese semiconductor stocks, with the CSI CN Semiconductor Index up nearly 49% this year. The firm has already begun pre-IPO “counselling” procedures with China International Capital Corporation and CSC Financial, both state-backed investment banks.

The proceeds will help finance CXMT’s aggressive push into high bandwidth memory (HBM) — an advanced form of DRAM critical for AI chips and data center processors such as those used in Nvidia’s GPUs. The company is building an HBM packaging plant in Shanghai, targeting initial production by late 2025 and mass output of HBM3 chips by 2026.

CXMT’s expansion is especially vital after U.S. trade restrictions cut off China’s access to advanced HBM chips last year. Analysts at TechInsights estimate the firm’s capital expenditure at $6–7 billion across 2023–2024, with a further 5% increase in 2025. The company’s initial HBM wafer capacity will reach about 30,000 per month, roughly one-fifth that of SK Hynix.

If successful, the IPO could attract heavy domestic investor demand, seen as both a financial opportunity and a patriotic play in China’s race to achieve technological independence.