US Commerce Department probing TSMC as suspected chip supplier to Huawei | Infinium-tech

Following a record-breaking quarterly earnings report, TSMS has found itself under ongoing investigation by the United States Department of Commerce. The investigation will look into the possibility of TSMC supplying smartphones and AI chips to Huawei despite the existing ban. New report from Information There are suggestions that the Commerce Department contacted TSMS to ask whether it was directly or indirectly supplying chipsets to Huawei.

In 2020, the US government banned Huawei from purchasing chips manufactured using American equipment due to national security concerns. Furthermore, the same restrictions prevent Huawei from purchasing chipset-manufacturing equipment which further limits its chances to source chips for its devices.

The new investigation is focusing on the Kirin 9000 found inside the Mate 60 series, as well as Huawei’s new Ascend AI processor, both of which contain components that should not be accessible to Huawei under the ongoing restrictions.

Huawei claims all of its new chips come from China Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), yet we’ve seen reports that another Kirin chip – the Kirin 9006C used in Huawei’s Qingyan L450 laptop – is actually manufactured by TSMC. Was done.

kirin 9000s chip

TSMC responded to the ongoing Commerce Department investigation with an official statement, claiming that it is a law-abiding company and will “take prompt action to ensure compliance, including conducting investigations and reporting to customers and regulators as necessary.” This includes proactively communicating with relevant parties, including authorities”.

Source ,paywall,