Huawei used “supply chain breach” to acquire AI chips from TSMC
Huawei — despite the various sanctions imposed on it by the U.S. — is not giving up without a fight. And apparently that also means getting its hands dirty when it has to and using a shell company and supply chain breaches to circumvent aforementioned sanctions.
China-based Huawei was under investigation over its technological progress which took place despite the restrictions it has to contend with. In a recent report by the CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) it was revealed that the company acquired over 2 million AI chips from TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company).
This was done via a shell company that facilitated the transfer of these chips from TSMC to Huawei. No one caught onto what was really happening until the chips were already with Huawei. Furthermore it turns out that Huawei has stocked up on HBM (high-bandwidth memory) which it got from Samsung during the period when restrictions were being planned on HBM exports to China.
Huawei is expected to use the AI chips that it received to design and manufacture a successor to its Ascend 910B chips. These advances will help the Chinese tech industry catch up to global standards when it comes to AI and advanced chip manufacturing processes.
Huawei faced a major blow to its business a few years ago when the U.S. suddenly deemed it a national security concern. The company’s phones — which I’m personally quite fond of — were shaping up to be very dangerous competitors to Samsung and Apple in the U.S.
Sanctions placed on Huawei forced the company to come up with its own software services and operating system. After Huawei phones lost out on Google services consumers in other countries began losing interest in the brand as well.
Despite these complications Huawei has come up with an ingenious operating system — harmonyOS — that is intuitive and would give Android and iOS a run for their money. The company has also gained significant market share in its home country as Apple continues to lose popularity.
A lot of this progress may very well have taken place using illegitimate means but hey, when the world’s against you you don’t really care anymore I suppose.
China-based Huawei was under investigation over its technological progress which took place despite the restrictions it has to contend with. In a recent report by the CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies) it was revealed that the company acquired over 2 million AI chips from TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company).
Huawei is expected to use the AI chips that it received to design and manufacture a successor to its Ascend 910B chips. These advances will help the Chinese tech industry catch up to global standards when it comes to AI and advanced chip manufacturing processes.
The Huawei Mate XT is an example of recent innovation by the company. | Video credit — Huawei
Huawei faced a major blow to its business a few years ago when the U.S. suddenly deemed it a national security concern. The company’s phones — which I’m personally quite fond of — were shaping up to be very dangerous competitors to Samsung and Apple in the U.S.
Sanctions placed on Huawei forced the company to come up with its own software services and operating system. After Huawei phones lost out on Google services consumers in other countries began losing interest in the brand as well.
Despite these complications Huawei has come up with an ingenious operating system — harmonyOS — that is intuitive and would give Android and iOS a run for their money. The company has also gained significant market share in its home country as Apple continues to lose popularity.
A lot of this progress may very well have taken place using illegitimate means but hey, when the world’s against you you don’t really care anymore I suppose.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: