TSMC notified US about its chip used in Huawei devices: Report

TSMC investigation took a new turn when the company informed the U.S. authorities about AI chip components used in the Huawei devices. The firm said the Chinese tech giant has utilized certain advanced techs despite tough export controls.

U.S. authorities began probing TSMC a few days ago as they suspected the firm of chip dealings for Huawei devices. Although the company claimed that it isn’t a part of such transactions and assured to take action to comply with the trade regulations.

Now the Taiwanese chip producer found a major loophole in this topic. As per a new report, TSMC notified the US about its chip parts being used in one of the Huawei AI processors. The company found details after a quick teardown by TechInsights.

TechInsights dismantled the Ascend 910B AI chip. During exploration, the research team found an advanced TSMC SoC within a multi-chip system of the processor.

The research firm informed TSMC about the new findings before sharing them publicly. Hereafter, the Taiwanese company brought the concern to the US.

During the investigation, TSMC uttered that it hadn’t shipped any chips to Huawei since mid-September 2020. Thus, the finding hints at the stocked components.

“We are not aware of TSMC being the subject of any investigation at this time. We maintain a robust and comprehensive export system for monitoring and ensuring compliance.” – said TSMC.

Huawei earlier stated that it doesn’t build chips through TSMC after the US ban. Following the trade sanctions in 2019, the company was unable to access or export any products to foreign countries, if made by the U.S. advanced technologies.

Sources mentioned that Huawei launched its Ascend 910B in August 2019, before the sanctions. At that time, the chip used to be produced under the TSMC foundry.

Financial Times added that TSMC further informed the U.S. about a new customer placing orders for Huawei Ascend 910B chips. It interrogated the customer for orders but didn’t get any significant details on this matter.

The ongoing investigation will probably continue to get more turning points as it proceeds. It would be worth seeing how far the U.S. will probe firms for helping Huawei.

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