The US Commerce Departme has investigated Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC) over coroversial allegations that, if true, could result in hefty fines. According to this unproven hypothesis, TSMC may have bypassed export corols to make advanced AI chips or Huawei smartphone chips and helped the Chinese gia.
According to The Information, the US Departme of Commerce believes that TSMC may have violated the sanctions imposed on Huawei. The Commerce Departme has yet to formally announce the investigation, but TSMC immediately released a stateme calling itself a “law-abiding company” that is “committed to complying with laws and regulations, including export corols.”
In the last four years, the United States has considered Huawei a national security threat; Because it is said that this company provides financial services to some ai-American couries and violates the export corols of the United States. After that, the tensions between the United States and China have iensified; So much so that the US has increased tariffs to limit China’s access to US technologies and recely increased tariffs on semiconductors. As the competition for dominance in artificial ielligence has iensified, the US Congress has recely iroduced a bill to preve China and other foreign adversaries from accessing artificial ielligence technologies.
Why the US is worried about Huawei and suspicious of TSMC
U.S. officials have long viewed Huawei as a Chinese state-corolled eity, blocking the company’s access to U.S.-made 5G chips esseial for artificial ielligence applications. But when Huawei launched the Mate 60 smartphone with 5G chips, it caused American concern. As 9to5Mac puts it: “No one can understand how Chinese tech companies can produce such products when they are under sanctions and do not have the technology to make the chips.”
In addition to the possible production of chips for Huawei phones, the United States suspects that TSMC helped the famous Chinese gia design artificial ielligence chips, sources told The Information.
TSMC’s stateme said there was no sign yet of a breach of export corols, but the US had apparely coacted TSMC to ask if it was involved in making smartphone chips or AI chips for Huawei.
