According to Odaily, Sophgo, an artificial intelligence company associated with Bitmain, has stated in a written declaration that it has never had any direct or indirect business relations with Huawei. However, the company did not refute reports of being cut off from chip supplies by TSMC. Additionally, Sophgo mentioned that it has provided TSMC with a detailed investigation report to demonstrate that the company is not involved in the investigation concerning Huawei.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Commerce initiated an investigation earlier this month to determine whether TSMC supplied chips to Huawei. Following this, TSMC ceased supplying chips to Sophgo. Two informed sources confirmed that TSMC has indeed halted chip supplies to the related company. Since 2020, Huawei has been prohibited from purchasing chips manufactured using U.S. technology, including those produced by TSMC. TSMC has acknowledged that it uses U.S. technology in its chip manufacturing process and has committed to complying with U.S. laws.
Earlier reports indicated that semiconductor research firm TechInsights claimed to have discovered that Huawei's latest high-end AI accelerator chip, the Ascend 910B, might have been manufactured by TSMC. This finding suggests that TSMC could have potentially violated U.S. export controls.
