By Karen Freifeld and Fanny Potkin
NEW YORK/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The United States has ordered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to droop shipments to Chinese prospects of superior chips typically utilized in synthetic intelligence purposes from Monday, in accordance with an individual accustomed to the matter.
The Commerce Department has despatched a letter to TSMC imposing export restrictions on sure subtle chips, of 7-nanometer or extra superior designs, destined for China that energy AI accelerator and graphics processing models (GPUs), the Department mentioned. individual.
The U.S. order, reported for the primary time, comes simply weeks after TSMC notified the Commerce Department that one in every of its chips had been present in a Huawei AI processor, Reuters reported final month. Technology analysis agency Tech Insights had taken the product aside, revealing the TSMC chip and the obvious violation of export controls.
Huawei, on the heart of the US motion, is included on a restricted commerce record, which requires suppliers to acquire licenses to ship any items or know-how to the corporate. Any license that might assist Huawei’s AI efforts would doubtless be denied.
TSMC has suspended shipments to Chinese chipmaker Sophgo after its chip matched one discovered on Huawei’s AI processor, sources instructed Reuters final month.
Reuters was unable to find out how the chip ended up on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, launched in 2022, thought of probably the most superior AI chip accessible from a Chinese firm.
The newest crackdown hits many extra firms and can permit the United States to evaluate whether or not different firms are diverting chips from Huawei for its AI processor.
Following the letter, TSMC knowledgeable affected prospects that it’ll droop chip shipments beginning Monday, the individual mentioned.
The Commerce Department declined to remark.
A spokesperson for TSMC additionally declined to remark past saying it’s a “law-abiding firm … dedicated to complying with all relevant guidelines and laws, together with relevant export controls.”
The Commerce Department’s discover – referred to as an “is suggested” letter – permits the United States to bypass prolonged rule-writing processes to shortly impose new licensing necessities on particular firms.
Ijiwei, a Chinese media website overlaying the semiconductor trade, reported Friday that TSMC notified Chinese chip design firms that it might discontinue chips 7 nanometers or smaller for AI and GPU prospects beginning Nov. 11 .
The motion comes as each Republican and Democratic lawmakers have raised considerations in regards to the inadequacy of export controls in China and their enforcement by the Commerce Department.
