TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) told the US government that one of its chips was allegedly found in a Huawei product, reports revealed on Wednesday (Oct. 23).
The TSMC chip was found within a multi-chip system after tech research firm TechInsights took apart Huawei’s advanced Ascend 910B AI chip, reported Reuters. TechInsights notified TSMC of the chip before publishing its report, and the Taiwanese chipmaker reported it to the US Commerce Department.
The chip could reveal a possible violation of export restrictions on Huawei. In May 2019, the US Commerce Department blacklisted Huawei by placing it on the “Entity List,” and restrictions were expanded in 2020 to block foreign sales of chips to the company.
TSMC said it stopped supplying chips to Huawei in September 2020. Huawei said in a statement that it had not produced chips through TSMC since the US introduced new rules in 2020.
It is uncertain how the TSMC chip made its way into the Huawei AI chip. The discovery shows the difficulty enforcing export controls and Huawei's need for sophisticated chips.
In 2019, Huawei released its Ascend 910 chip series. Two sources told Reuters that before US export controls were implemented, TSMC made them.
The US Commerce Department said it is "aware of reporting alleging potential violations of US export controls.” The US is investigating TSMC and Huawei regarding the matter, the Financial Times and the Information reported.
Economics Minister Kuo Jyh-huei (郭智輝) told reporters on Wednesday they have “full communication with the company.” Taiwan's government has implemented strict regulations to prevent its chips from being produced in China and ensure local tech companies follow US regulations.
