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Dutch firm ASML makes one of the most important pieces of machinery required to manufacture the most advanced chips in the world. U.S. chip curbs have left companies, including ASML, scrambling to figure out what the rules mean in practice.

Emmanuel Dunand | AFP | Getty Images

ASML, one of the world’s most critical semiconductor firms, said Wednesday that it recently discovered that a former employee in China had misappropriated data related to its proprietary technology.

The Dutch firm said that it does not believe the alleged misappropriation is material to its business.

“We have experienced unauthorized misappropriation of data relating to proprietary technology by a (now) former employee in China,” ASML said in its annual report.

“However, as a result of the security incident, certain export control regulations may have been violated. ASML has therefore reported the incident to relevant authorities.”

The data that was misappropriated involved documents. ASML did not expand on the details.

The security incident comes at a sensitive time for ASML and the government of the Netherlands which has been caught in the middle of a battle for tech supremacy between the U.S. and China. Semiconductors are very much part of that rivalry.

ASML holds a unique position in the chip supply chain. The company makes a tool called an extreme ultraviolet lithography machine that is required to make the most advanced semiconductors, such as those manufactured by TSMC. ASML is the only company in the world that produces this piece of kit.

The U.S. is worried that if ASML ships the machines to China, chipmakers in the country could begin to manufacture the most advanced semiconductors in the world, which have extensive military and advanced artificial intelligence applications.

Since 2018, the U.S. has reportedly put pressure on the Dutch government to stop ASML shipping EUV machines to China. ASML has never shipped the tool to China.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that the U.S. reached an agreement with Japan and the Netherlands to restrict exports of advanced chipmaking machinery to China.

ASML said the agreement could cover its advanced chipmaking tools but it does not expect the measures to have a material effect on its 2023 expectations.

“We understand that steps have been taken that would cover advanced lithography tools as well as other types of equipment. The terms of this agreement have not been publicly disclosed and remain confidential for now. We expect that it will take many months for the governments to write and enact new rules,” ASML said Wednesday.

China espionage allegations

The latest report of data misappropriation in China is not the first incident that ASML has alleged that it has experienced.

In 2021, the ASML alleged a company called Dongfang Jingyuan Electron “was actively marketing products in China that could potentially infringe on ASML’s IP rights.”

ASML alleges that Dongfang Jingyuan Electron is associated with XTAL Inc., a company against which ASML had obtained a damage award for trade secret misappropriation in 2019 in the U.S.

Donfang Jingyuan Electron has denied reports about intellectual property theft.

ASML said in a separate statement Wednesday that it is seeing an increased number of attempts from actors trying to steal its technology.

“With ASML’s unique position and the growing geopolitical tensions in the semiconductor industry, we see increasing security risk trends, ranging from ransomware and phishing attacks to attempts to acquire intellectual property or disrupt business continuity,” a spokesperson said.

China meanwhile is trying to boost its own semiconductor industry against a backdrop of rising tension with the U.S. But China’s chip capabilities remain far behind the likes of the Taiwan, South Korea and the U.S.

China does not have any companies that can produce the tools that ASML does. Without ASML’s machinery, it will be difficult for China to manufacture the most advanced chips. Meanwhile, the U.S. introduced sweeping export restrictions in October aimed at cutting China off from obtaining or manufacturing key chips and components. Experts previously told CNBC that these factors would likely hobble China’s drive to boost its domestic chip industry.

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Musk’s xAI sues Apple, OpenAI alleging anticompetitive scheme harmed X, Grok

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Musk’s xAI sues Apple, OpenAI alleging anticompetitive scheme harmed X, Grok

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, attends the Viva Technology conference at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris on June 16, 2023.

Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters

Elon Musk‘s xAI sued Apple and OpenAI on Monday, accusing the pair of an “anticompetitive scheme” to thwart artificial intelligence rivals.

The lawsuit, filed by Musk’s AI startup xAI and its social network business X, alleges Apple and OpenAI have “colluded” to maintain monopolies in the smartphone and generative AI markets.

Musk’s xAI acquired X in March in an all-stock transaction.

It accuses Apple of deprioritizing so-called “super apps” and generative AI chatbot competitors, such as xAI’s Grok, in its App Store rankings, while favoring OpenAI by integrating its ChatGPT chatbot into Apple products.

“In a desperate bid to protect its smartphone monopoly, Apple has joined forces with the company that most benefits from inhibiting competition and innovation in AI: OpenAI, a monopolist in the market for generative AI chatbots,” according to the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

An OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement: “This latest filing is consistent with Mr. Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment.”

Representatives from Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Tesla CEO launched xAI in 2023 in a bid to compete with OpenAI and other leading chatbot makers.

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Musk earlier this month threatened to sue Apple for “an unequivocal antitrust violation,” saying in a post on X that the company “is behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in the App Store.”

After Musk threatened to sue Apple, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded: “This is a remarkable claim given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like.”

An Apple spokesperson previously said its App Store was designed to be “fair and free of bias,” and that the company features “thousands of apps” using a variety of signals.

Apple last year partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into iPhone, iPad, Mac laptop and desktop products.

Several users replied to Musk’s post on X via its Community Notes feature saying that rival chatbot apps such as DeepSeek and Perplexity were ranked No. 1 on the App Store after Apple and OpenAI announced their partnership.

The lawsuit is the latest twist in an ongoing clash between Musk and Altman. Musk co-founded OpenAI alongside Altman in 2015, before leaving the startup in 2018 due to disagreements over OpenAI’s direction.

Musk sued OpenAI and Altman last year, accusing them of breach of contract by putting commercial interests ahead of its original mission to develop AI “for the benefit of humanity broadly.”

In a counter claim, OpenAI has alleged that Musk and xAI engaged in “harassment” through litigation, attacks on social media and in the press, and through a “sham bid” to buy the ChatGPT-maker for $97.4 billion designed to harm the company’s business relationships.

OpenAI says Musk's filing is 'consistent with his ongoing pattern of harassment

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Nvidia’s new ‘robot brain’ goes on sale for $3,499 as company targets robotics for growth

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Nvidia's new 'robot brain' goes on sale for ,499 as company targets robotics for growth

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, is seen on stage next to a small robot during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France, on June 11, 2025.

Gonzalo Fuentes | Reuters

Nvidia announced Monday that its latest robotics chip module, the Jetson AGX Thor, is now on sale for $3,499 as a developer kit.

The company calls the chip a “robot brain.” The first kits ship next month, Nvidia said last week, and the chips will allow customers to create robots.

After a company uses the developer kit to prototype their robot, Nvidia will sell Thor T5000 modules that can be installed in production-ready robots. If a company needs more than 1,000 Thor chips, Nvidia will charge $2,999 per module.

CEO Jensen Huang has said robotics is the company’s largest growth opportunity outside of artificial intelligence, which has led to the Nvidia’s overall sales more than tripling in the past two years.

“We do not build robots, we do not build cars, but we enable the whole industry with our infrastructure computers and the associated software,” said Deepu Talla, Nvidia’s vice president of robotics and edge AI, on a call with reporters Friday.

The Jetson Thor chips are based on a Blackwell graphics processor, which is Nvidia’s current generation of technology used in its AI chips, as well as its chips for computer games.

Nvidia said that its Jetson Thor chips are 7.5 times faster than its previous generation. That allows them to run generative AI models, including large language models and visual models that can interpret the world around them, which is essential for humanoid robots, Nvidia said. The Jetson Thor chips are equipped with 128GB of memory, which is essential for big AI models.

Companies including Agility Robotics, Amazon, Meta and Boston Dynamics are using its Jetson chips, Nvidia said. Nvidia has also invested in robotics companies such as Field AI.

However, robotics remains a small business for Nvidia, accounting for about 1% of the company’s total revenue, despite the fact that it has launched several new robot chips since 2014. But it’s growing fast.

Nvidia recently combined its business units to group its automotive and robotics divisions into the same line item. That unit reported $567 million in quarterly sales in May, which represented a 72% increase on an annual basis.

The company said its Jetson Thor chips can be used for self-driving cars as well, especially from Chinese brands. Nvidia calls its car chips Drive AGX, and while they are similar to its robotics chips, they run an operating system called Drive OS that’s been tuned for automotive purposes.

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Nvidia's China risks loom large ahead of earnings

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Intel says Trump deal has risks for shareholders, international sales

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Intel says Trump deal has risks for shareholders, international sales

Intel’s CEO Lip-Bu Tan speaks at the company’s Annual Manufacturing Technology Conference in San Jose, California, U.S. April 29, 2025.

Laure Andrillon | Reuters

Intel on Monday warned of “adverse reactions” from investors, employees and others to the Trump administration taking a 10% stake in the company, in a filing citing risks involved with the deal.

A key concern area is international sales, with 76% of Intel’s revenue in its last fiscal year coming from outside the U.S., according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company had $53.1 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2024, down 2% from the year prior.

For Intel’s international customers, the company is now directly tied to President Donald Trump‘s ever-shifting tariff and trade policies.

“There could be adverse reactions, immediately or over time, from investors, employees, customers, suppliers, other business or commercial partners, foreign governments or competitors,” the company wrote in the filing. “There may also be litigation related to the transaction or otherwise and increased public or political scrutiny with respect to the Company.”

Intel also said that the potential for a changing political landscape in Washington could challenge or void the deal and create risks to current and future shareholders.

The deal, which was announced Friday, gives the Department of Commerce up to 433.3 million shares of the company, which is dilutive to existing shareholders. The purchase of shares is being funded largely by money already awarded to Intel under President Joe Biden‘s CHIPS Act.

Read more CNBC tech news

Intel has already received $2.2 billion from the program and is set for another $5.7 billion. A separate federal program awarded $3.2 billion, for a total of $11.1 billion, according to a release.

Trump called the agreement “a great Deal for America” and said the building of advanced chips “is fundamental to the future of our Nation.” 

Shares of Intel rallied as momentum built toward a deal in August, with the stock up about 25%.

The agreement requires the government to vote with Intel’s board of directors. In the Monday filing, the company noted that the government stake “reduces the voting and other governance rights of stockholders and may limit potential future transactions that may be beneficial to stockholders.”

Furthermore, the company acknowledged in the filing that it has not completed an analysis of all “financial, tax and accounting implications.”

Intel’s tumultuous fiscal year 2024 included the exit of CEO Pat Gelsinger in December after a four-year tenure during which the stock price tanked and the company lost ground to rivals in the artificial intelligence boom.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan took the helm in March.

NEC Director Kevin Hassett on Intel deal: It's possible government will take stake in more companies

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