A Canadian research firm called TechInsights took a deep dive into one of Huawei’s AI accelerators and found a chip manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Bloomberg TechInsights spoke to several people familiar with the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity after the report became public.
An investigation by TechInsights has revealed a TSMC-made Ascend 910B chip in one of Huawei’s AI accelerators, anonymous sources say. The company conducting the investigation declined to comment.
Reuters reports TechInsights informed TSMC of its findings before publishing its report. This prompted TSMC to notify the US Department of Commerce earlier this month. The Financial Times reportsTSMC told the department that a customer placed an order for a chip similar to Huawei’s Ascend 910B, citing people familiar with the matter. one FT‘s sources said that TSMC “spoke with both the customer involved and the commercial department” after receiving the suspicious order.
The US Department of Commerce has implemented an addendum trade restrictions v. Huawei, which banned the electronics company from acquiring chips made by foreign firms. Earlier this year, the US government tightened the restrictions by revoking their licenses Intel and Qualcomm to produce chips for their devices.
In a statement to the Department of Commerce, TSMC denied having a business relationship with Huawei since mid-September 2020. TSMC was also informed Bloomberg said it does not produce any chips for Huawei due to the revised restrictions. Huawei has denied ever “launching the 910B chip”.
This is not the first time Huawei has tried to circumvent US sanctions and trade restrictions. Bloomberg revealed in May Huawei funded secret research in the US By channeling money at universities, including Harvard, through Optica, a Washington-based scientific research foundation. Fund said decided to return the money in June, and CEOs Elizabeth Rogen and Chad Stark stepped down the following August.
Update, October 22, 7:10 PM ET: This story has been updated with more information since publication Financial Times‘ provides information on the issue.
