The US instructed barring shipments of chips of 7-nanometer or more sophisticated chips, which power AI products and graphics processing units (GPUs).
To put China behind the technology race, the US has urged Taiwan’s TSMC to bar shipments of cutting-edge AI-backed semiconductors to Chinese firms. A couple of days back, the TSMC received an official letter from the US Department of Commerce, which clearly instructed pausing shipments of chips of 7-nanometer or more sophisticated chips, which power AI products and graphics processing units (GPUs), an official familiar with the matter told the media.
The Commerce Department sent the official letter to TSMC weeks after the former notified them that it had stopped shipping chips to one of the customers who is closely associated with Huawei. Reports also surfaced that the company’s advanced chips had been discovered in Huawei’s AI-backed processor. According to the US officials, it is clear signs of infringing the export control norms and also urged that TSMC will have to produce evidence of its loyalty.
Soon after the Commerce Department issued the letter, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office mentioned that the order was against international trade rules and the US was responsible for escalating geopolitical scuffles in the China-Taiwan regions. Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said that the US has already used Taiwan to worsen relations with China, and now, it is persuading other European and Asian countries to comply. The moves already eroded the actual interests of the Taiwanese companies, adds Fenglian.
TSMC also stopped its trade with China’s chip designer firm Sophgo after its chip was found in Huawei’s AI SoCs. After carrying out the investigation, Reuters has yet to report the actual reason behind the incident. Now, US officials are expected to carry out another set of investigations on all the companies operating in the US who are suspected of shipping their chips to Chinese firms.
