TSMC Halts Shipments to China Firm After Chip Found on Huawei Processor
TSMC suspends shipments to Sophgo after chip found on Huawei processor. Sophgo denies business ties with Huawei, provides investigation report to TSMC. U.S. Department of Commerce aware of potential export control violations.
The chip found on Huawei's Ascend 910B matched those ordered by Sophgo from TSMC. Due to restrictions on Huawei for national security reasons, the origin of the chip on the Huawei product remains unclear.
Sophgo, affiliated with cryptocurrency mining equipment company Bitmain, stated on its website that it complies with all laws and has no business relationship with Huawei. The company provided TSMC with an investigation report to demonstrate its lack of association with Huawei. TSMC chose not to comment on the matter, while Huawei did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
The U.S. Department of Commerce acknowledged potential violations of export controls but refrained from commenting on ongoing investigations. Tech research firm TechInsights identified the TSMC chip on Huawei's Ascend 910B during a teardown of the processor. TSMC informed the U.S. about this discovery approximately two weeks ago.
Simultaneously, TSMC ceased shipments to a client after discovering its chip in a Huawei product. The company alerted authorities in Taiwan and the U.S. and initiated a thorough investigation. Although the client was not named by the official, recent sources identified it as Sophgo. TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, confirmed it had not supplied Huawei since mid-September 2020 and had been in communication with the Commerce Department.
Huawei stated it had not received any chips from TSMC following new U.S. export regulations in 2020. Previously, TSMC supplied chips for Huawei's Ascend series, with the Ascend 910B, launched in 2022, considered one of the most advanced AI chips from a Chinese company. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology reported Bitmain's aim to challenge Nvidia and AMD's AI chip market dominance.
Sophgo, co-founded by Micree Zhan, a Bitmain co-founder, was described as a Bitmain affiliate. In 2021, Bitmain's operations in Taiwan were raided, and two affiliates were accused of illegal activities related to semiconductor engineers and research. Sophgo's website indicates research and development centers in over 10 cities globally.
TSMC suspends shipments to Sophgo after chip found on Huawei processor
Sophgo denies business ties with Huawei, provides investigation report to TSMC
U.S. Department of Commerce aware of potential export control violations
Source: REUTERS