The current state of the chip sector is marked by two open fronts: on one hand, the war between Intel and AMD against ARM chips; on the other hand, the situation between the United States and China, since the former keeps imposing sanctions to hinder the growth of the latter. Meanwhile, Taiwan not only has become the main player in the industry, but is also behind one of the most controversial discoveries in recent weeks.
As reported by Reuters in a recent publication, TSMC informed the United States that one of their chips was found in a Huawei product. This situation could indicate a violation of export restrictions to the Chinese company, as they should not have access to this advanced technology. However, TechInsights (a technology research firm) disassembled a Huawei Ascend 910B and discovered the presence of a prohibited product in the most advanced AI chip from a Chinese company.
It is impossible to apply export controls on these devices
According to the original report, TSMC notified the US Department of Commerce about the chip a few weeks ago, shortly after being contacted by TechInsights. This incident demonstrates the difficulty of applying export controls on high-demand products, as TSMC had not supplied chips to Huawei since mid-September 2020 due to US trade restrictions. In fact, Huawei itself claimed that they had not received anything from TSMC since that date.
The US Department of Commerce is aware of reports regarding possible violations of export restrictions, but has not commented on whether an investigation is currently underway. Meanwhile, the government of Taiwan stated that the country’s tech firms will comply with North American regulations. Therefore, the presence of a TSMC chip in a Huawei device is alarming, as it indicates that the Chinese company continues to have access to these products through other means.
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