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TSMC Halts Shipments After Huawei Chip Leak, Bypassing U.S. Sanctions

Oct 26, 2024, 12:48 PM

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has halted shipments to a client after discovering that chips it produced were used in Huawei products, potentially bypassing U.S. sanctions. The U.S. has broad export bans on advanced chips being shipped to China, where Huawei devices are produced. TSMC has allied itself with the U.S. and received over $6.6 billion in grants towards its U.S. chip manufacturing. The U.S. Department of Commerce has begun investigating whether TSMC supplied chips to Huawei, leading TSMC to stop supplying chips to Sophgo, an AI chip company affiliated with Bitmain, founded by a Chinese crypto mogul. Bitmain is the world's largest Bitcoin mining hardware maker. TSMC's actions follow concerns about 'shadow networks' bypassing U.S. sanctions. The events occurred in October 2024.