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TSMC Says It Has Alerted US of Potential China Ai Chip Curbs Violation

fansink

Well-known member
I was sure Pat made the anonymous tip-off, still probably true.

(Reuters) -Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) said on Tuesday it has informed the United States of a potential attempt by Huawei to circumvent U.S. export controls prohibiting the chipmaker from producing AI chips for the Chinese company.

The U.S. government restricted the export of high-end AI chips to China two years ago, citing the need to limit the Chinese military's capabilities.

"We are not aware of TSMC being the subject of any investigation at this time," the company said in a statement, adding that it has not supplied to Huawei since mid-September 2020. TSMC's U.S.-listed shares were down 1.5%.

A crucial element of export controls is a rule prohibiting global chip manufacturers from utilizing U.S. technology or equipment to produce chips intended for Huawei or its products.

In recent years, the United States has escalated its use of export controls, aiming to thwart Chinese companies from obtaining, designing, or manufacturing advanced semiconductors.

Huawei, a primary target of these efforts, epitomizes the growing technology rivalry between Beijing and Washington.

TSMC informed the U.S. Commerce Department after a customer placed orders for a chip similar to Huawei's Ascend 910B, a processor designed for large language model training, a Financial Times report said earlier in the day, citing people familiar with the matter. The Commerce Department and Huawei did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comments.

 
Huawei is a very large octopus with many arms. I have no doubt that Huawei has one of its arms designing chips at TSMC. Even if the US government cuts off one arm another will grow back with even more determination, my experience.
 
Huawei is a very large octopus with many arms. I have no doubt that Huawei has one of its arms designing chips at TSMC. Even if the US government cuts off one arm another will grow back with even more determination, my experience.
Could one of those arms be coincident with Xiaomi?

 
My guess would be a Chinese cloud company such as Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu. If the US government is concerned about China AI development cloud is where I would look, not mobile SoC companies. Or maybe a Chinese ASIC company. Huawei has an ASIC arm called HiSilicon, maybe they have other clandestine ASIC arms. I remember when HiSilicon first came to Hsinchu Taiwan they had a full floor of a building with no markings or lobby but we all knew what they did since there was a common lunch area.
"This comes as reports have recently emerged that Xiaomi has purportedly completed the tape-out of its first 3nm SoC, with a possible launch expected next year. Of course, Xiaomi's 3nm chip will likely be manufactured by TSMC. However, the risk remains that Huawei's HiSilicon and other sanctioned Chinese entities might use this chip design innovation to improve the yields on their bespoke advanced silicon fabrication efforts."


Did ASML knowingly sell DUV lithography machines to Chinese companies, that are capable of fabricating 3nm wafers, and withhold this 3nm capable DUV information from US authorities?

Is this why the US is now considering tightening export controls to include certain DUV lithography machines?

Late, barn door lock, cow escape?
 
Fouquet said much of ASML’s business with China is focused on mature technology that is less relevant to national security concerns. “A lot of the focus in China today is on mainstream semiconductors,” he said. “This is very different from AI.”

 
Fouquet said much of ASML’s business with China is focused on mature technology that is less relevant to national security concerns. “A lot of the focus in China today is on mainstream semiconductors"
So admittedly, some of the 3nm is related to AI?
 
Fouquet said much of ASML’s business with China is focused on mature technology that is less relevant to national security concerns. “A lot of the focus in China today is on mainstream semiconductors,” he said. “This is very different from AI.”


Mature node semiconductors are the national security concern, not the cutting edge. You don't need Geforce 4080 to guide a missile, you need a $1 micro, and high-end power electronics, along with RF chips, and sensors.
 
So wait ! Some or all of the Ascend 910B AI chips were unknowingly manufactured by TSMC ??? Curiouser and curiouser.

Huawei Technologies’ Latest AI Chips Were Produced by TSMC (Oct 2024)​


Maybe Huawei's Plan B due to yield problems at SMIC ?? Or were they really even produced at SMIC in the first place ??

Huawei reportedly facing bad AI chip yields for processors made at Chinese fab SMIC: Report (July 2024)
Four out of five Ascend 910B AI processors reportedly have defects.​

 
What the definition of "Advanced AI chips" ..... foundries do not know the functionality of a chip or the TOPS.

Is the restriction actually based on technology?
 
I would just ignore that Reuters article altogether. There is no teardown of an "Ascend 910B" in the TechInsights website. The only analysis is of a plain Ascend 910 which could have been manufactured and shipped before the sanctions years ago.
Probably just stockpiled chips. Nothing to see here from what I understand.

For whichever unfathomable reason people in the US government still continue to not believe that SMIC can make advanced chips in high numbers. This is nothing more than a mental illness and closet racism. Did these people ever consider that TSMC in Taiwan produces the most advanced chips in the world, and their initial workers were mostly transplants from the mainland? Even the founder of TSMC was born in China.

In 2-3 years I expect the Chinese to be fully able to make their own full set of tools capable of 7nm FinFET manufacture without imports. What will these clowns do then?

Their misguided sanctions are the biggest boon the Chinese semi tools sector could ever want. The major vendors like Naura or AMEC are already doubling their revenue every 3 years as it is, and the whole industry is going exponential thanks to the US government.
 
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The "Ascend 910B" is a very large and unusual chip. It is hard to conceive TSMC got duped to fab it unwittingly.

My guess would be a Chinese cloud company such as Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu.

It simply does not make sense for them to provide a cover for Huawei at the risk of getting their reputation damaged, or exposing themselves to the wrath of US sanctions.
 
Next weeks JIO Seminar on Strategic Trade Management in Singapore just got a lot more interesting, hopefully one of the keynote speakers will have something to say.
 
The "Ascend 910B" is a very large and unusual chip. It is hard to conceive TSMC got duped to fab it unwittingly.
Based on photos, it looks like the original 910 manufactured at TSMC, as well as the 910B, has 8 or 9 different chiplets in multi-chip packaging. TSMC is suggesting that one of those chips/chiplets in a multi-chip 910B systems still fabbed by them. Anybody know what's inside an Ascend 910 or 910B ?
 
Based on photos, it looks like the original 910 manufactured at TSMC, as well as the 910B, has 8 or 9 different chiplets in multi-chip packaging. TSMC is suggesting that one of those chips/chiplets in a multi-chip 910B systems still fabbed by them. Anybody know what's inside an Ascend 910 or 910B ?
Most of the chiplets are HBM dies. It has one large SoC and one I/O die and the rest are HBM.
 
Most of the chiplets are HBM dies. It has one large SoC and one I/O die and the rest are HBM.
So either the main SoC or I/O was still fabbed at TSMC via a nefarious middleman ?

 
tsmc needs to cut off ANY work with ANY mainland companies and stop this nonsense asap. Period.

How naive one needs to be to think or believe any of these mainland advanced chip companies are completely independent of Huawei and thus the CCP?

CCP needs these advanced chips to refine their weaponry and improve their missiles capabilities, which will eventually shower down on the neighborhoods of Taiwan, including these tsmc executives themselves and their relatives.
 
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