Chinese authorities congratulate Xiaomi on country’s first 3nm chip

Amid an increasingly intense technology war centered on semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI), any Chinese advance in chip design and manufacturing is closely watched as a possible example of defiance of US sanctions.

The Chinese technology company Xiaomi was credited with developing the first smartphone chip 3 nanometers from China, but the company has not made any official statement on the matter.

Tang Jianguo, chief economist at the municipal bureau of economics and information technology, which oversees the high-tech industry in Beijingclaimed that Xiaomi has successfully “engraved” the country’s first 3nm mobile chip. The statement was broadcast by the state broadcaster Beijing Radio and Television Station (BRTV) last Sunday, but without further details.

The term “tape-out” refers to the final phase of the design process before chips are mass-produced. Sunday’s report was quickly replicated by several local media outlets, but was soon removed from the Chinese internet.

A BRTV has not issued any official corrections to its original report, and Xiaomi did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Xiaomi has an internal unit dedicated to semiconductor design, which aims to customize chips for its own devices, based mainly on imported components. Since its founding in 2017, this unit has developed several chips, including the S1a mobile system on chip, and the C1an image sensor.

The company uses chips of its own design and foreign technologies in some of its products. For example, your electric vehicle SU7launched in March, combines internal chips with solutions from Qualcomm e Nvidia.

Amid a growing technological war centered on semiconductors e artificial intelligence (AI)any Chinese advancement in chip design and manufacturing is closely monitored as it could be seen as a way to defy US sanctions. USA.

U.S. export restrictions have made it difficult for Chinese companies to access global chip manufacturing services and semiconductor design automation software. However, the Huawei achieved a significant return last year with the launch of a device 5G equipped with an advanced chip, designed by its internal unit HiSilicon and produced by China’s largest contract chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation.

Unlike Huawei, which was added to the US export blacklist in 2019, preventing US entities from selling any technology to the company, Huawei Xiaomi it still has access to mobile chips from suppliers like Qualcomm. The US government still allows the export of these chips, considered less advanced than AI processors, to most Chinese companies.

A Qualcomma leading supplier of mobile chips to China, reported more than 50% growth in annual revenue from mainland Chinese smartphone makers in the June quarter due to strong demand for AI capabilities in mobile devices.

Chinese companies that are not on the US blacklist continue to have access to chipmakers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Some AI chip design companies in mainland China have reportedly reduced the specifications of their designs to secure services from the Taiwanese giant, following limitations imposed by the US on the processing capabilities of chips that can be produced for mainland customers.

With information from the South China Morning Post*