The media, citing an insider, reported that the United States ordered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers.
In this case, it means microcircuits, which are often used in artificial intelligence apps. Also, the media, citing an insider, reported that the United States ordered to halt shipments of the mentioned chips from Monday, November 11.
Besides, the informant of the journalists reported that the US Department of Commerce sent a letter to TSMC, which contains information about export restrictions from Washington regarding some sophisticated microcircuits. In this case, it means 7-nanometer chips or more advanced designs, destined for shipments to China. The corresponding microcircuits power artificial intelligence accelerators and graphics processing units.
The mentioned information was published a few weeks after TSMC notified the US Commerce Department that one of its chips had been found in Huawei’s AI processor.
It is worth noting that the United States has long added Huawei to the list of companies shipments of any goods and technologies to which are allowed only after obtaining a special license. Also, as noted by the media, any license related to the elaborating of artificial intelligence would most likely be denied by US regulators.
TSMC has suspended shipments to Chinese chip developer Sophgo. The corresponding decision was made after the mentioned developer’s microcircuit matched with the chip used in the Huawei AI processor.
It is not yet known how the specified chip ended up in the Huawei Ascend 910B smartphone, released in 2022.
It is worth noting that the restrictive measures reported by the media expand the already existing US export control regime, largely focused on shipments to China. The new restrictions will allow Washington to find out which companies are involved in diverting chips to Huawei for its artificial intelligence processor.
According to media reports, citing an insider, TSMC has notified customers who are subject to new requirements from the United States about suspending shipments of microcircuits from Monday.
The US Commerce Department declined to comment on the mentioned information to journalists. TSMC also decided to follow this tactic.
As we have reported earlier, US Lawmaker Urges Investigation Into China’s Chipmaker SMIC.
