According to a Reuters report, Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturers (TSMCs) may need to pay a fine of more than $1 billion to resolve US export control investigations related to chips used in Huawei AI processors.
TSMC is now ” [a] A Chipmaker spokesman said he issued a statement in an email to TechCrunch.
This is the latest development in a situation involving TSMC, Huawei and Chinese chip designer Xiamen Sophgo Technologies in late 2024. Sophgo is an affiliate of Bitmain, Bitcoin Mining Equipment Supplier, and TSMC is the world’s largest contracted chip manufacturer.
Reports at the time showed that a significant amount of TSMC’s export-controlled AI chips had arrived at Huawei’s mass-produced AI accelerator, the Ascend 910B AI processor.
In the Nesting-Doll method, the TSMC chip is said to be built into the Sophgo chip, and the Sophgo chip is said to be built into the Ascend 901b.
This is important not only because export rules but also because Huawei’s multi-chip processors are considered to be done in China, the most advanced in their class. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of these processors were produced using these components.
“TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are committed to complying with all applicable rules and regulations, including applicable export controls,” TSMC said in a statement. “In compliance with regulatory requirements, TSMC has not been supplied to Huawei since mid-September 2020. If you have reason to believe there is a potential problem, you can take prompt action to ensure compliance, including conducting an investigation or actively communicating with customers and regulators, including clients and regulators.
Timeline for TSMC chip shipping to Chinese companies
October 2024
TechInsights, a high-tech research firm in Ottawa, Canada, has disassembled Huawei’s 910B AI processor and discovered a TSMC-based chipset inside each Reuters. The chipset is similar to the one created by Sophgo. Sofgo argued that the US Department of Commerce’s investigation into potential ties between TSMC and Huawei did not involve Sophgo or its products. Sopho added that he has never engaged in any direct or indirect business transactions with Huawei.
November 2024
The US Department of Commerce has ordered TSMC to halt the shipment of advanced chips to Chinese customers, including Sopho.
December 2024
The US Department of Commerce has considered adding Sophgo to the US blacklist.
January 2025
The US has since added over 20 Chinese companies, including Zhipu AI and Sopho, which specialize in developing large-scale language models.
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