U.S. trade regulators have launched an investigation into Samsung Electronics’ memory chips and a range of artificial intelligence hardware sold by Google, Nvidia, Broadcom, and Super Micro Computer after California-based Netlist accused the companies of infringing its memory technology patents.

The investigation by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) marks the latest escalation in Netlist’s years-long legal battle with Samsung and comes at a time when demand for high-performance memory chips is surging as hyperscale cloud providers and AI companies accelerate data center investments.

At the center of the dispute are dynamic random access memory (DRAM) technologies used in servers that power AI workloads. DRAM temporarily stores data for processors and has become one of the most critical components in AI infrastructure, particularly as advanced AI systems require enormous amounts of high-speed memory to train and run sophisticated models.

Netlist alleges that Samsung and its U.S. subsidiaries infringed patents covering data-processing technologies used in these memory products. Because Samsung supplies memory chips used across the AI hardware ecosystem, the complaint also names products imported by major technology companies, including Google, Nvidia, Broadcom, and Super Micro Computer, that incorporate the disputed components.

The USITC said an administrative law judge will conduct an evidentiary hearing before issuing an initial determination, which will then be subject to review by the full commission. The agency will establish a target completion date for the investigation within 45 days.

Netlist has asked the commission to issue one of its most powerful remedies: an exclusion order blocking imports of the allegedly infringing memory chips and AI products into the United States, as well as cease-and-desist orders preventing further sales.

If the commission ultimately grants those remedies, they would take effect immediately and become final after a 60-day presidential review period unless the U.S. Trade Representative vetoes them on public policy grounds, an action that is relatively rare.

The investigation highlights how intellectual property disputes are increasingly intersecting with the AI infrastructure boom. Demand for advanced memory chips has risen sharply as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, OpenAI and other AI developers continue investing hundreds of billions of dollars in AI data centers. That surge has fueled higher prices and record earnings for leading memory manufacturers, including Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron.

High-bandwidth memory (HBM) and advanced DRAM have become strategic technologies because AI accelerators from Nvidia and other chipmakers rely heavily on large amounts of high-speed memory to maximize computing performance.

Although Nvidia, Google, Broadcom, and Super Micro are not accused of manufacturing the memory chips themselves, their products could become subject to import restrictions if the USITC determines that they incorporate infringing Samsung components. That raises the stakes considerably, as any import ban could potentially affect servers, AI systems and networking equipment sold into the U.S. market.

The case also exposes the growing legal risks facing the AI hardware supply chain, where a relatively small number of component suppliers serve virtually every major AI system builder.

The latest investigation builds on several courtroom victories Netlist has already secured against Samsung. In 2023, a Texas jury awarded Netlist $303 million in damages in a patent infringement case involving Samsung memory technology. That was followed in 2024 by another Texas jury verdict awarding Netlist an additional $118 million over related memory data-processing technology.

Rather than seeking only monetary damages through federal courts, Netlist is now pursuing trade remedies through the USITC, which has the authority to block imports into the United States. That approach is often viewed as powerful because it can create commercial pressure on technology companies even before damages are resolved.

The investigation follows memory technology’s growth as one of the most strategically important segments of the semiconductor industry. While AI processors from companies such as Nvidia often attract the most attention, industry analysts see advanced memory as an equally critical bottleneck for AI performance, making patent disputes in this segment potentially more consequential for the broader AI ecosystem than in previous semiconductor cycles.

Uber has agreed to acquire German food-delivery giant Delivery Hero in a deal valued at $14.8 billion, marking one of the biggest consolidation moves in the global online food-delivery industry and creating the world’s largest delivery platform outside China.

The acquisition significantly expands Uber’s international footprint, strengthens its competitive position against DoorDash and Prosus-backed Just Eat, and underscores how scale has become the defining advantage in an industry facing slower growth, rising regulatory costs and mounting competition.

The transaction is a major milestone in Uber’s transformation from a ride-hailing company into a diversified mobility and logistics platform. By combining Delivery Hero’s extensive international operations with Uber Eats, the company will nearly double the number of markets where it offers both transportation and food delivery, enabling it to deepen customer engagement through bundled services and its Uber One subscription program.

“We’ll nearly double the number of markets where we offer both mobility and delivery services,” Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said in a joint statement announcing the transaction.

The acquisition values Delivery Hero at €41.50 per share, representing about a 34% premium to its three-month volume-weighted average share price and roughly 40% above the company’s undisturbed share price before takeover speculation emerged. Uber’s offer is also significantly higher than its earlier proposal in May, which valued Delivery Hero at around €10 billion, or €33 per share, and was rejected by the German company.

The deal has the backing of Delivery Hero’s management and supervisory board, although Uber has made the transaction conditional on securing acceptance from shareholders representing at least 50% plus one share.

If completed, the combined company will operate across 99 countries, up from roughly 50 markets for Uber today, with a projected gross merchandise value (GMV) of $236 billion in 2025. Delivery Hero contributed approximately $42 billion in gross bookings last year and serves around 60 million monthly active users, providing Uber with immediate scale in regions where its presence has historically been limited.

The acquisition substantially expands Uber’s reach across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America through Delivery Hero’s portfolio of brands, which includes Talabat, PedidosYa, Glovo, and several regional delivery platforms.

The rationale extends beyond food delivery.

Uber has been pursuing a “super app” strategy that combines ride-hailing, restaurant delivery, grocery delivery, retail logistics, and subscription services within a single ecosystem. Adding Delivery Hero’s customer base gives Uber new opportunities to cross-sell mobility services, expand Uber One memberships, and improve customer retention while spreading technology and marketing costs across a much larger platform.

Analysts say those network effects have become increasingly important as industry growth normalizes following the pandemic-era surge in online food ordering.

The acquisition also points to the rapid consolidation of the global food-delivery industry. What was once a fragmented market populated by dozens of regional competitors has increasingly become dominated by a handful of global companies. Slowing order growth, higher interest rates, increasing labor costs, and tighter regulation surrounding gig-economy workers have made scale essential for maintaining profitability.

The industry has witnessed a succession of large transactions over the past several years. Uber acquired Postmates to strengthen its U.S. business. DoorDash expanded internationally through its purchases of Wolt and Deliveroo. Just Eat merged with Takeaway.com before acquiring Grubhub, while Delivery Hero itself grew aggressively through acquisitions, including Glovo and foodpanda, before later exiting selected markets to improve profitability.

The latest transaction further concentrates the industry, effectively leaving Uber and DoorDash as the dominant global competitors outside China, where Meituan continues to lead.

Despite the strategic logic, the deal is expected to face an extensive regulatory review. Because Uber and Delivery Hero operate in numerous overlapping markets, competition authorities are likely to closely examine whether the combination could reduce consumer choice, weaken competition, or increase commissions charged to restaurants.

To help address those concerns before formal reviews begin, Delivery Hero has agreed to divest operations in 14 markets to U.S. investment firm SSW Partners for approximately €1.4 billion. The divestitures are intended to reduce competitive overlaps and improve the transaction’s chances of securing regulatory approval.

Another important element involves Prosus, one of Delivery Hero’s largest shareholders. Prosus has agreed to sell its nearly 17% stake in Delivery Hero as part of commitments it previously made to the European Commission to secure approval for its acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway. Those commitments required the Dutch technology investor to reduce its ownership in Delivery Hero, effectively removing a potential obstacle to Uber’s acquisition.

People familiar with the matter said the divestment was driven by regulatory obligations rather than a strategic desire to exit, describing Prosus as a “false seller.”

The transaction nevertheless highlights an irony within Europe’s technology space. While European policymakers have repeatedly emphasized the importance of nurturing homegrown technology champions capable of competing globally, regulatory remedies attached to another merger have helped pave the way for one of Europe’s largest digital platforms to be acquired by a U.S. company.

Analysts expect the regulatory process to be lengthy.

Jefferies described the proposed completion timetable, which extends into the second half of 2027, as evidence that regulators are likely to conduct an extensive antitrust review.

“The use of a financial investor to get ahead of the antitrust questions could prove successful, though the long timeline to completion suggests it won’t be a straightforward review,” Jefferies analysts wrote.

Investor reaction was relatively muted following the announcement. Delivery Hero shares edged modestly higher, while Uber shares gained around 2%, suggesting markets largely anticipated an improved offer after takeover discussions became public earlier this year.

As part of the agreement, Uber committed to invest €2 billion in Germany through 2031 and pledged to maintain Delivery Hero’s Berlin headquarters and workforce until at least 2029. Those commitments may help ease political concerns over foreign ownership while preserving Germany’s role as a major European technology hub.

The acquisition also strengthens Uber’s long-term competitive positioning beyond traditional food delivery.

According to Adam Ballantyne, an analyst at Cambiar Investors, the newly acquired markets provide Uber with years of additional organic growth opportunities as it introduces bundled ride-hailing and delivery services while expanding Uber One subscriptions into regions where customers currently use Delivery Hero’s platforms but have limited access to Uber’s broader ecosystem.

If regulators ultimately approve the acquisition, Uber will emerge as the most geographically diversified food-delivery company outside China, with an unmatched global network spanning nearly 100 countries.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) delivered another record-breaking quarter on Thursday, as surging demand for advanced chips from customers including Nvidia, Apple and Broadcom drove earnings well above market expectations and prompted the company to raise both its capital spending and U.S. investment plans.

The world’s largest contract chipmaker reported second-quarter net profit of NT$706.56 billion ($39.45 billion), up 77.4% from a year earlier and comfortably ahead of analysts’ estimates of NT$632.64 billion, according to LSEG SmartEstimates. Revenue climbed 36% year-on-year to a record NT$1.27 trillion, also exceeding expectations of NT$1.264 trillion.

The results underpin TSMC’s position as the biggest beneficiary of the unprecedented global buildout of AI infrastructure, with hyperscalers and semiconductor companies continuing to spend aggressively on next-generation computing capacity. The company has now posted record quarterly net income for five consecutive quarters, highlighting the resilience of AI-related investment even as broader semiconductor markets recover at a slower pace.

Looking ahead, TSMC projected third-quarter revenue of between $44.6 billion and $45.8 billion, alongside an operating profit margin of 56% to 58%, signaling that demand remains exceptionally strong.

“AI related demand continues to be extremely robust,” Chairman and Chief Executive C.C. Wei said during the company’s earnings call.

To support that demand, Wei announced that TSMC will invest an additional $100 billion in Arizona, increasing its total planned investment in the U.S. state to $265 billion.

“This is to build several or more semiconductor logical wafer fab for two nanometer MP (mass production) technologies, as well as advanced packaging fabs to support the strong multi-year demand from our leading U.S. customers,” Wei said.

The announcement further cements Arizona as one of TSMC’s most strategically important manufacturing hubs outside Taiwan and reflects growing efforts by customers and governments to diversify semiconductor production geographically while securing access to advanced chips.

Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang also raised the company’s 2026 capital expenditure forecast to between $60 billion and $64 billion, marking one of the largest annual investment budgets in semiconductor industry history.

The increased spending is seen as another indication that AI is reshaping capital allocation across the semiconductor sector. While many technology companies are racing to develop larger AI models and build new data centers, TSMC remains the critical manufacturing partner producing the advanced processors powering that expansion.

The company’s technology mix also illustrates how quickly customers are migrating toward leading-edge manufacturing nodes.

Advanced technologies of 7 nanometers and below accounted for 77% of total wafer revenue during the quarter. The 5-nanometer process contributed 33% of revenue, while 3-nanometer chips represented 30%, demonstrating continued customer migration toward increasingly sophisticated manufacturing technologies.

High-performance computing remained the primary growth engine, accounting for 66% of revenue in 2026, well ahead of smartphones at 22% and Internet of Things applications at 5%. The figures highlight how AI servers and data-center processors have become the company’s most important business segment, reducing its historical reliance on smartphones.

Industry analysts said TSMC continues to enjoy significant pricing power because of its unmatched technological leadership, although management has exercised restraint in passing higher costs on to customers.

“Net, they have far more pricing power than they are currently exercising,” said Sravan Kundojjala, an analyst at SemiAnalysis.

He added that TSMC is capturing greater value through selective price increases while deliberately avoiding aggressive pricing strategies that could pressure customers.

Kundojjala also noted that booming demand for AI-related memory is beginning to affect other parts of the semiconductor industry.

“The memory boom is now squeezing TSMC’s non-AI business. Consumer and price-sensitive end markets took a hit from rising memory prices and tight component supply,” he said.

AI-related chips continue to experience supply constraints and premium pricing across the tech industry, but consumer electronics markets remain comparatively subdued, creating a two-speed industry where AI infrastructure investment continues to offset weakness in traditional computing and consumer devices.

TSMC’s results also lend credence to recent optimism across the semiconductor supply chain. Equipment makers, including ASML, have raised sales forecasts amid expanding AI-related capacity, while Nvidia, Broadcom and other major chip designers continue to launch powerful processors that rely on TSMC’s most advanced manufacturing technologies.

Investors welcomed the strong results, with TSMC shares rising 1.23% on Thursday. The stock has gained more than 58% this year, extending its rally as investors continue to view the company as one of the clearest long-term beneficiaries of the global AI investment cycle.

The latest earnings suggest that demand for advanced semiconductors remains far ahead of available manufacturing capacity, supporting TSMC’s strategy of maintaining record capital expenditure while expanding production across Taiwan, the United States, and other international locations.

With customers continuing to commit tens of billions of dollars to AI infrastructure, the company’s elevated investment plans indicate it expects the current AI spending cycle to remain intact for several years rather than representing a short-term surge.