TSMC Cuts Off Chinese Firm For Reportedly Shipping to Sanctioned Huawei

[AleksandarK]

According to a recent Reuters report, TSMC has decided to cut off Chinese firm Sophgo following the discovery of TSMC-manufactured components in Huawei's advanced AI processor. The suspension came after technology research firm TechInsights identified a TSMC-manufactured chip within Huawei's Ascend 910B processor during a detailed analysis. This discovery raised significant concerns, as Huawei has been restricted from accessing such technology under US export controls since 2020. TSMC promptly notified US authorities upon learning of the situation and launched an internal investigation. While being sanctioned by the US, Huawei needed to use a proxy firm to get access to high-end silicon manufacturing to produce its Ascend accelerators.

Sophgo, which has ties to cryptocurrency mining equipment manufacturer Bitmain, strongly denies any business relationship with Huawei. The company states it has provided TSMC with a detailed investigation report asserting its compliance with all applicable laws, saying: "SOPHGO has never been engaged in any direct or indirect business relationship with Huawei. SOPHGO has been conducting business in strict compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to all the applicable US national export control laws and regulations, and has never been in violation of any of such laws and regulations. SOPHGO has provided detailed investigation report to TSMC to prove that SOPHGO is not related to the Huawei investigation."



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[lilhasselhoffer]

So...if you have a chip it presumably has identifiers on it that provide traceability. That trace is probably detailed enough to be able to trace the date and time it was produced, and who it was sold to. Sophgo wants to claim compliance, when it's really impossible to be a more open-and-shut case?

I'll laugh...once I stop crying. I'm also happy that another Chinese product has complete compliance paperwork...but is obviously not in compliance. After receiving everything from steel with incorrect chemical composition, to inserts whose threading was incorrect and consistently inconsistent, it's nice to see somebody actually have consequences. I...am just sad that in the next few weeks there will probably be another shell company to take its place. When the government is your required partner, and they want something, it's very difficult to tell them no. Then again, they've also claimed to fabricate 5 nm chips by hand (China Observer on youtube). If you can believe the human hand has that level of precision in movement you'll believe anything. Just for giggles, a human hair is 80k-100k nm wide. It's amazing what China based companies will promise on paper.