TSMC stopped supplying Huawei with advanced chips just this month

The investigation surrounding TSMC’s involvement in supplying Huawei Technologies with advanced 7nm chips under sanctions is gradually gaining momentum. Bloomberg reported that TSMC just this month stopped supplying such products to a certain client, suspecting a dirty trick. The client could smuggle Huawei chips bypassing sanctions.

Image source: Huawei Technologies

According to sources, TSMC by the middle of this month decided to stop supplying chips to one of its clients, whom it suspected of having connections with Huawei Technologies. The Taiwanese chip manufacturer allegedly managed to inform the US and Taiwanese authorities about this and began a more thorough investigation of its own. This week, Reuters also reported that TSMC itself contacted American officials after Canadian experts at TechInsights informed it of their suspicions about the origin of the 7nm Ascend 910B chips in Huawei’s computing accelerators.

It is not yet possible to determine whether the mysterious TSMC client mentioned above acted in the interests of Huawei, and in which country he was located. It is noteworthy that both TSMC and Huawei claim that they have ceased direct cooperation since mid-September 2020, when the corresponding US sanctions came into force. At the same time, Huawei notes that the Ascend 910B chip was not officially presented by it. TSMC representatives are also unaware of any investigations by US regulators regarding this company.

Officials in the Taiwanese government have already come to the defense of this contract chip manufacturer, assuring the public that TSMC is law-abiding. American officials, as noted, met with the company’s management in mid-October to discuss the nuances associated with the supply chain of its products.