The speaker discusses semi-hosting in the context of Uboot and its use for bootstrapping systems. They explain different protocols that can be used for bootstrapping, such as USB, Ethernet, SD cards, Serial, and JTAG. They then introduce the NXP Core IQ line of communication processors and how they use a reset configuration word (RCW) to configure the pins on the board. However, these chips have a chicken and egg problem where they need something on the initial device in order to boot up. The speaker explores different approaches to solve this problem and introduces semi-hosting as a solution. They explain how semi-hosting works, its benefits, and its usage in Uboot for tasks like serial communication, file operations, error handling, and more. They also mention the use of the openOCD debugger for working with semi-hosting. The speaker concludes by providing some recommendations and acknowledgements.