TSMC has responded to reports that it supplies artificial intelligence processors to Chinese tech giant Huawei. Huawei's Ascend processors have been controversial, and a new report from Semi Analysis claims that Huawei has purchased these processors from TSMC. The United States has banned TSMC from supplying advanced chips to Huawei. TSMC's statement claims that it has not supplied any products to the Chinese company since September 2020.
The United States restricted sales to Huawei in May 2020 during the Trump administration and gave Huawei a 120-day grace period to allow Huawei to ship by mid-September of that year.
In January this year, the startup DeepSeek's AI model successfully imitated its Western counterparts in performance, and China's access to high-end AI chips became the focus of attention. Multiple reports claim that DeepSeek obtained NVIDIA's H20 AI GPU, a specialized version made specifically for China that has been restricted from sale by the U.S. government. At the same time, a report from the US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) stated that Huawei can also use this to produce more than 500,000 advanced Ascend AI chips.
Another report from Semi Analysis that came to light last week was also quite clear. The report outlines that the chips manufactured by TSMC are indeed Huawei's. The CSIS report mentioned that Huawei obtained the chips used to make these chips before the United States imposed sanctions, which means that TSMC did not violate any US restrictions.
The sanctions against Huawei were implemented by the first Trump administration in May 2020. At that time, TSMC’s cutting-edge manufacturing technology was 7-nanometer and above processes, which Huawei mainly used for smartphone processors. The sanctions order gives Huawei a 120-day grace period, allowing orders placed before May 15 to be shipped before September 14.
In a statement following the release of the Semi Analysis report, TSMC maintained that its products comply with all applicable laws. The latest AI chips require advanced manufacturing processes such as 7nm and 5nm to produce. TSMC’s current latest technology is the 3-nanometer process, which is used for low-power chips such as smartphone processors.
According to TSMC, the company has stopped shipping to Huawei since September 2020, and if any suspicious orders are found, it will "take prompt action to ensure compliance," including conducting due diligence and notifying relevant departments. The company also revealed that it has communicated with the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding suspicious orders and will continue to do so.