According to an insider speaking with Bloomberg, Taiwanese semiconductor company TSMC has identified that some of its chips have been sent to Huawei. The article notes that one of its third-party clients supplied the chipsets in question that were subsequently used to assemble AI servers for the foreign company. The news about such actions follows while it became known recently that the Bureau of Industry and Security, a division of the U.S. Commerce Department, launched an inquiry concerning possible violations of federal export controls.
More About the TSMC and Huawei
TSMC, meanwhile, said in a statement that it is “a law-abiding company” and complies with all rules and regulations, including export controls. Huawei, meanwhile said in a separate statement that it had not been able to procure any TSMC chips since 2020 when the U.S. Department of Commerce blacklisted its mobile phone division for using American technology regardless of them being designed by an Italian company situated outside America and as such should be unaffected.
The third-party client was not identified in the report because of security concerns. The client may or not have enrolled on behalf of Huawei and it is also unknown in what country the user recruited from. This confirms previous reports of TSMC chips running AI servers on which Huawei develops its artificial intelligence.
The Chinese phone maker currently uses 7nm chips made by SMIC, although this was also a concern for U.S. officials, as they were aware of the country’s production capability in this sector. There is also evidence that Huawei stockpiled certain chips made by TSMC in 2019, such as the Kirin 910 — a line of redesigned versions after years on different product shelves. The situation highlights the complexity of semiconductor supply chains and complicates the efforts made by companies such as Huawei to navigate significant restrictions and sanctions imposed on it by US authorities. The probe is also ongoing and we will have to see how much of an impact this has on Huawei operations or its ability to access key technologies.
FAQs
What was discovered about TSMC and Huawei?
TSMC found that some of its chips were supplied to Huawei through a third-party client, raising concerns about potential violations of U.S. export controls.
What is the current status of Huawei’s chip supply?
Huawei is using 7nm chips from SMIC and has stockpiled TSMC-made Kirin 910 chipsets from 2019, but it has not received any TSMC chips since being blacklisted by the U.S. in 2020.
