Huawei’s semiconductor chief is spearheading innovation beyond Moore’s Law as the company pursues greater technological self-reliance.
He Tingbo, widely known in China’s technology industry as Huawei’s “chip queen,” has become one of the most influential figures behind the company’s semiconductor ambitions and China’s broader push for technological self-reliance.
Currently serving as president of Huawei’s semiconductor business and a member of the company’s board, He has spent nearly three decades helping build Huawei’s chip capabilities. She is also one of only two women on Huawei’s 17-member board.
Her journey at Huawei began in 1996 when she joined the company as an engineer after earning degrees in semiconductor physics, communication engineering and telecommunications.
A major turning point came in 2003 when Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei placed her in charge of the company’s chip development efforts. The move laid the foundation for what would later become one of China’s most important semiconductor programmes.
In 2004, Huawei established HiSilicon, its chip design division, which He helped transform from a small internal unit into a major semiconductor operation. Under her leadership, the business expanded across smartphone processors, telecommunications chips, artificial intelligence, networking equipment and advanced packaging technologies.
He’s role became even more significant after U.S. sanctions imposed in 2019 restricted Huawei’s access to advanced chip technologies and manufacturing capabilities. The restrictions forced the company to accelerate the development of homegrown semiconductor solutions.
At the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems in Shanghai, He recently outlined Huawei’s vision for the future of chip development. She introduced the company’s “Tau Scaling Law,” a framework designed to address the growing limitations of Moore’s Law.
Rather than focusing solely on shrinking transistor sizes, the approach emphasizes improving transmission speeds and efficiency across circuits, chips and computing systems.
Huawei says it has spent the past six years developing this methodology and has already mass-produced hundreds of chips based on the concept.
As the global semiconductor industry searches for new ways to improve performance, He Tingbo remains at the forefront of Huawei’s innovation efforts, helping shape both the company’s future and China’s long-term semiconductor strategy.
