Bloomberg reports that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has uncovered evidence its chips are reaching Huawei through unauthorized channels, according to a confidential source.
The investigation revealed that an intermediary customer had supplied these processors to the Chinese tech giant, which subsequently integrated them into its artificial intelligence server systems.
This revelation emerged shortly after news broke of an ongoing probe by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security examining possible violations of export control regulations.
In response to the allegations, TSMC released an official statement emphasizing its status as a “law-abiding company” and reaffirming its commitment to following all regulations, particularly those concerning export controls. Meanwhile, Huawei countered with its statement, asserting it has not received any TSMC-manufactured chips since its 2020 blacklisting by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Due to the matter’s sensitive nature, the identity of the third-party client remains undisclosed. While the report confirms earlier findings that Huawei’s AI servers—used for developing artificial intelligence models—are powered by TSMC chips, key details remain unclear, including the client’s location and whether it deliberately acted as Huawei’s intermediary.
Currently, Huawei relies on 7nm chips manufactured by SMIC, though U.S. officials have expressed skepticism about the Chinese manufacturer’s ability to mass-produce such sophisticated semiconductors.
The company has also demonstrated remarkable resourcefulness by drawing from its stockpile of Kirin 910 processors, manufactured by TSMC in 2019. Various iterations of these stockpiled chips have continued to surface in Huawei products years after their initial production.
