The Department of Commerce sent a letter to TSMC imposing export restrictions on certain sophisticated chips, of 7 nanometer or more advanced designs, destined for China that power AI accelerator and graphics processing units (GPU), the person said.
The U.S. order, which is being reported for the first time, comes just weeks after TSMC notified the Commerce Department that one of its chips had been found in a Huawei AI processor, as Reuters reported last month.
Tech research firm Tech Insights had taken apart the product, revealing the TSMC chip and apparent violation of export controls.
TSMC suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo after its chip matched the one found on the Huawei AI processor, sources told Reuters last month.
Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on Huawei's Ascend 910B, released in 2022, viewed as the most advanced AI chip available from a Chinese company.
Persons:
TSMC, Sophgo
Organizations:
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, of Commerce, Commerce Department, Huawei, Reuters, Tech
Locations:
Krakow, Poland, China, U.S