TSMC chip in Huawei puts Chinese company in US sights

US targets Sophgo, linked to Huawei, for TSMC chip in processor; company denies relationship while facing blacklisting

The Biden administration plans to blacklist a Chinese company whose chip, made by TSMC, was illegally embedded in a Huawei artificial intelligence processor, according to a source.

Chinese company Sophgo drew attention after a chip found in Huawei’s Ascend 910B multi-chip system matched one it ordered from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

Sophgo is the latest Chinese company to be targeted by US sanctions for helping Huawei.

This month, the US Department of Commerce added other companies seen as part of Huawei’s shadow network to the country’s restricted trade list.

Sophgo, an affiliate of bitcoin mining equipment provider Bitmain, is in the process of being added to the list, known as the Entity List, according to the source.

Companies are added to the list for activities considered contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. Exporters are prohibited from sending goods and technologies to these companies without a license, which will likely be denied.

Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications equipment maker and technology conglomerate, was placed on the list in 2019. Since 2020, it has been a violation to send chips, even those manufactured abroad, to the company without a license.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Commerce declined to comment.
Sophgo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In an October statement, the company said it “has never had any direct or indirect business relationship with Huawei.”

Sophgo is a supplier to local governments and state-owned companies such as China Telecom, according to tenders analyzed by Reuters.

With information from SCMP*