An image of a woman holding a cell phone in front of a Huawei logo displayed on a computer screen.
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Huawei reportedly said it has developed its own chip design tools, a move aimed at side-stepping U.S. sanctions and making the Chinese technology giant more self-sufficient in the semiconductor space.
Eric Xu, rotating chairman at Huawei, said the company along with other domestic firms, jointly created electronic chip design tools required to make semiconductors at 14 nanometers and above, according to a speech obtained by Chinese financial and business publication Yicai.
Xu said those tools will be verified this year, which would allow them to be put into use.
Huawei was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
If Xu’s claims are true, Huawei would have taken a step to reducing its reliance on U.S. technology in semiconductors. U.S. firms dominate the chip design tool market with companies like Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems.
Xu’s speech said that the design tools would be for 14 nanometer chips and above. The nanometer figure refers to the size of each individual transistor on a chip. The smaller the transistor, the more of them can be packed onto a single semiconductor. Typically, a reduction in nanometer size can yield more powerful and efficient chips.
However 14 nanometer chips are several generations behind what is currently being put into the latest smartphone technology. For example, Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max uses a 5 nanometer chip. However, 14 nanometer chips may be used in some of the company’s other products.
Pranay Kotasthane, chairperson of the high tech geopolitics program at the Takshashila Institution, told CNBC he would wait to see more details before knowing how effective Huawei’s design tools are.
Kotasthane explained that contract chip manufacturing firms, also known as foundries, work with semiconductor design companies to come up with a set of files called a Process Design Kit. This PDK “models the physical and electrical characteristics” of the basic components of a chip. The design firm and manufacturer needs to go through a process to optimize the production to ensure the highest yield of semiconductors. If this process does not happen, then “chip designs will fail when converted into silicon,” Kotasthane said.
“There’s not enough proof yet to suggest that Chinese EDA [electronic design automation] companies have crossed this barrier,” Kotasthane said.
Perplexity AI is in late-stage talks to raise $500 million at a $14 billion valuation, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to CNBC Monday.
Accel, the Palo Alto-based venture capital firm, will lead the round, according to the source, who spoke anonymously because the round is not yet finalized. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the late-stage numbers.
The funding is on the lower end of Perplexity’s planned raise, which CNBC reported in March. During those early-stage talks, Perplexity was looking to raise between $500 million and $1 billion in funding at an $18 billion post-money valuation, per a source familiar.
Perplexity has just under $100 million in annual recurring revenue, or ARR, the source told CNBC in March.
Perplexity has been in the middle of the generative AI boom that began in late 2022 with the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and it’s betting big on its upcoming AI agent web browser, called Comet. But Perplexity faces increasing competition in the AI search market.
In March, Anthropic launched its web search product, allowing its chatbot Claude to display real-time search results to a subset of users.
Last fall, OpenAI launched a search feature within ChatGPT, its viral chatbot, that positioned it to better compete with Perplexity, as well as leading search engines such as Google and Microsoft‘s Bing.
Google has released AI Overviews within its search product as well, though it sparked controversy over high-profile errors soon after its release.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, center, watches during the inauguration ceremonies for President Donald Trump, right, and Vice President JD Vance, left, in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025.
Wall Street and Apple investors cheered the pause on Chinese tariffs. Apple stock was up 6% in trading on Monday, versus 3% for the Nasdaq.
“I spoke to Tim Cook this morning, and he’s going to, I think, even up his numbers,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “$500 billion, he’s going to be building a lot of plants in the United States for Apple. And we look forward to that.”
Apple previously said in February it would spend $500 billion to expand many of its operations in the U.S., including assembling AI servers in Houston.
Any cooling of a U.S.-China trade war is expected to boost Apple, which does the majority of its device production in the country, and also counts the region as its third-largest by sales.
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Still, it’s not clear how much Monday’s announcement immediately helped Apple.
In April, most of Apple’s most important products, such as smartphones and computers, received exemptions on some of the highest 145% tariffs, but there are still 30% tariffs on Chinese imports even after Sunday’s deal. Apple still faces 10% tariffs in some of its secondary production locations, such as India and Vietnam.
The Trump administration wants Apple to bring device production, including iPhone manufacturing, to the United States, a move that many experts believe would be unlikely and expensive.
Earlier this month, Cook told investors about the company’s tariff strategy on an earnings call. He said that Apple is currently sourcing American-bound products from production locations in Vietnam and India, but didn’t want to speculate beyond June, calling the situation “difficult to predict.”
HANGZHOU, CHINA – JUNE 3, 2024 – The NVIDIA logo and the Apple logo are pictured in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, China, June 6, 2024. On June 5, Eastern time, Nvidia’s stock market value exceeded $3 trillion, officially surpassing Apple’s market value and becoming the world’s second largest technology giant by market value. It is worth noting that in just over 3 months, Nvidia’s market value soared from $2 trillion to $3 trillion. (Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Global technology and chip stocks rallied on Monday after the U.S. and China agreed to pause most tariffs on each other’s goods.
Technology stocks — such as semiconductor firms and smartphone makers — have been hit hard as trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies threatened to disrupt supply chains and hurt some of the biggest U.S. businesses.
But investors breathed a sigh of relief after talks between the U.S. and China over the weekend yielded a temporary pause in “reciprocal” tariffs.
In the U.S., Nvidia, which still faces a number of restrictions on the chips it is allowed to ship to China, was around 4% higher in premarket trade, while AMD was up 5%. Broadcom was also around 5% higher, along with Qualcomm.
Other companies in the semiconductor supply chain also jumped. Marvell, which last week postponed a previously scheduled investor day due to macroeconomic uncertainty, surged 7.5% in premarket trade.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest chipmaker, saw its U.S.-listed shares jump around 4% in the premarket. TSMC’s Taiwan-listed stock closed before the tariff announcement.
In Europe, ASML, a supplier of critical machinery required to manufacture the most advanced chips, rallied 4.5% in early trade. Infineon was also sharply higher.
Semiconductors and some electronics received an exemption from President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs last month, but the U.S. signaled the reprieve was temporary and that these products could still be in line for special duties.
Investors have been concerned about the impact on major tech stocks, especially those with exposure to China such as Apple and Amazon, whose shares have been under pressure this year.
Amazon was up more than 8% in premarket trade Monday. Many sellers on Amazon rely on Chinese products.
U.S.-listed Chinese tech stocks also surged. Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com were higher, alongside internet firm Baidu.
“With US/China clearly on an accelerated path for a broader deal we believe new highs for the market and tech stocks are now on the table in 2025 as investors will likely focus on the next steps in these trade discussions which will happen over the coming months,” Daniel Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, said in a note on Monday.
“This morning is a huge win for the bulls and a best case scenario post this weekend in our view.”
