At the 26th Semiconductor Exhibition SEDEX 2024 held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 23rd, a TSMC sign was displayed.
Reuters reported on the 9th (local time) that the U.S. government ordered Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company, to halt the supply of high-performance semiconductors to China.
On this day, Reuters mentioned that the U.S. Department of Commerce sent an official document to TSMC imposing export restrictions on advanced semiconductors of 7 nanometers or less, which are used in operating AI accelerators or graphics processing units (GPUs).
The Department of Commerce’s letter, known as an “information-providing” letter, can impose permit conditions on specific companies in a roundabout way.
The previous day, the Financial Times (FT) also reported that TSMC informed its Chinese customers that it would not accept orders for semiconductors of 7 nm or less starting from the 11th.
Based on reports from Reuters and FT, it appears that the decision was influenced by an order from the U.S. government.
In response, the U.S. Department of Commerce did not express any position regarding the report.
TSMC also emphasized that they are a “law-abiding company” and “strive to comply with all regulations, including export controls,” avoiding comments on the U.S. Commerce Department’s request.
Previously, market research firm TechInsights revealed that upon disassembling Huawei’s advanced AI chipset “Ascend 910B,” they discovered TSMC processors. The Ascend 910B, released in 2022, is known as the most advanced AI chipset introduced by a Chinese company. There are speculations that there might have been violations of U.S. export controls.
Earlier, in 2020, the U.S. government prohibited Huawei from purchasing semiconductors made using U.S. equipment due to national security concerns. TSMC heavily relies on U.S. equipment for semiconductor manufacturing.
At the time, TSMC stated that they were not at fault and would cooperate with the U.S. Department of Commerce to investigate the issue.
Reuters noted, “With crackdowns being conducted on several companies, it will be possible to verify if ‘semiconductor diversion’ to Huawei is occurring in other companies as well.”