Tech war: TSMC chips found in Huawei’s AI processors open firms to fresh scrutiny

A Canadian firm’s teardown report of an artificial intelligence (AI) offering by Huawei Technologies has raised fresh questions about whether the Chinese tech giant skirted US sanctions by using a chip made by the world’s most advanced fab, a development that could lead to further scrutiny.

TechInsights, an Ottawa-based semiconductor industry research firm, published the report last week detailing its teardown of Huawei’s most popular AI processor, the Ascend 910B. The firm attempted to identify the chip components known as dies, which contain the integrated circuits, and their manufacturers. The report was made available to subscribers only.

A key finding of the report is that components of the 910B, which is widely used in Chinese data centres, were produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

TSMC’s headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on July 5, 2023. The company says it has not sold chips to Huawei since September 2020. Photo: AFP

TSMC said it has not supplied chips to Huawei since September 2020 and is not under investigation. The Taiwanese chip maker notified Washington that one of its chips had been found in a Huawei product after the TechInsights report was published, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Huawei said in a statement on Wednesday that it has not produced any chips via TSMC since 2020.

Huawei has emerged as China’s national champion in the country’s self-sufficiency drive to cut its reliance on American technology. The Shenzhen-based tech giant had already been designing its own chips under its HiSilicon subsidiary when it was sanctioned in 2019, and it ramped up self-sufficiency efforts after US restrictions were expanded in 2020.

Since then, Huawei has remained guarded about its chip capabilities, although it has become a leading alternative to Nvidia as a provider of AI chips to Chinese customers. Huawei has said the Ascend 910B is on par with Nvidia’s A100 chip, and multiple industries have adopted the Chinese chip.

Темы и теги

США Наука и Технологии

Huawei TSMC чип фирма процессор свежий осмотр технический война