Taiwan is home to TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier of chips to AI darling Nvidia. Both Huawei and SMIC have been working hard to catch up in the chip technology race.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory despite the strong objections of Taipei’s government, already has tight chip export controls when it comes to Taiwanese companies either manufacturing in the country or supplying Chinese firms.
Huawei, which is at the centre of China’s AI ambitions, is on a US Commerce Department trade list that essentially bars it from receiving US goods and technology, as well as foreign-made goods such as chips from companies like TSMC made with US technology.
Last October, TechInsights, a Canadian tech research firm, took apart Huawei’s 910B AI processor and found a TSMC chip in it. The multi-chip 910B is viewed as the most advanced AI accelerator mass-produced by a Chinese company.
TSMC suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo, whose chip matched the one in the Huawei 910B and in November, the US Commerce Department ordered TSMC to halt shipments of more chips to Chinese customers.
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