Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has temporarily suspended shipments to Chinese chip designer SOPHGO (also known as Algorithmic Technology Co., Ltd) after finding the company's chip in a Huawei processor. SOPHGO is a related company of Bitmain, a Chinese bitcoin mining company. This move raises concerns about potential violations of US export restrictions.
In August 2020, the US tightened export restrictions on Huawei, effectively prohibiting US companies from doing business with the Chinese tech giant. Since then, TSMC has not supplied chips to Huawei.
The discovery of SOPHGO's chip in Huawei's Ascend 910B processor was made by TechInsights during an analysis of the processor. Consequently, TSMC notified the US authorities and they are conducting an investigation.
The chip designer SOPHGO was founded by Force Jankie of Bitmain, and the company is now under review by relevant authorities.
Sources: Reuters https://www.reuters.com/technology/tsmc-suspended-shipments-china-firm-after-chip-found-huawei-processor-sources-2024-10-26