A Canadian research firm, TechInsights, conducted an investigation revealing that Huawei’s artificial intelligence accelerators contain a chip manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). According to Bloomberg, anonymous sources familiar with the investigation reported the discovery of an Ascend 910B chip made by TSMC in Huawei’s AI accelerators, with TechInsights declining to comment on the findings. Reuters further reports that TSMC was informed of the findings before the report was published, resulting in TSMC notifying the US Commerce Department. The Financial Times cites sources stating that TSMC alerted the department after receiving suspicious orders for a chip similar to Huawei’s Ascend 910B. The US Commerce Department subsequently imposed trade restrictions against Huawei, prohibiting the company from obtaining chips from foreign firms and revoking licenses with Intel and Qualcomm to produce chips for Huawei. TSMC denied any recent working relationship with Huawei and confirmed that it has not supplied chips due to the amended restrictions, while Huawei denied launching the 910B chip. This isn’t the first instance of Huawei attempting to circumvent US sanctions, as Bloomberg previously reported that Huawei secretly funded research in the US through a scientific research foundation, prompting the foundation to return the funds and undergo leadership changes. The story was updated with additional details from the Financial Times reporting.
