Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan Warned Helium Could Choke AI Chips in June, and…

China has imposed a blanket export ban on helium, a critical gas used in semiconductor fabrication for cooling, etching, and EUV lithography. Though China represents only 1.6% of global helium production, the ban signals potential supply tightness at a moment when chip demand is elevated by AI buildout and Middle East tensions threaten alternative supplies from Qatar and Russia. If you build AI chips or the tools to cool and etch them, your helium cost and availability just changed. The US and Qatar still have supply, but the margin for demand spikes—or Middle East disruption—is now visible.