TSMC Cuts Off Client After Discovering Chips Sent to Huawei
台积电在发现芯片被送往华为后切断了与客户的关系
- TSMC halted shipments immediately after discovery this month
台积电在本月发现后立即停止了出货 - The company has notified Taipei, Washington as it investigates
公司已通知台北和华盛顿,正在进行调查
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. discovered this month that chips it made for a specific customer ended up with Huawei Technologies Co., a potential violation of US sanctions intended to sever the flow of technology to a Chinese national champion.
台湾半导体制造公司本月发现,为特定客户制造的芯片最终流入了华为技术有限公司,这可能违反了旨在切断技术流向中国国家冠军的美国制裁。
TSMC halted shipments to the client around mid-October after it realized semiconductors fabricated for that entity had found their way into Huawei products, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. The chipmaker has since notified the US and Taiwanese governments and is investigating the matter more thoroughly, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing a sensitive situation.
台积电在十月中旬左右停止了对该客户的出货,因为它意识到为该实体制造的半导体已流入华为产品,一位了解此事的人士表示。该芯片制造商随后已通知美国和台湾政府,并正在更深入地调查此事,该人士要求匿名以讨论敏感情况。
It’s unclear whether the TSMC client was acting on Huawei’s behalf, or where it’s based. But the incident sheds new light on reports that surfaced in past days, including from The Information, that Washington reached out to TSMC recently about whether the company had produced chips for the blacklisted Chinese company.
目前尚不清楚台积电的客户是否在华为的代表下行动,或其总部在哪里。但这一事件为最近出现的报道提供了新的视角,包括《信息》网站的报道,华盛顿最近联系了台积电,询问该公司是否为被列入黑名单的中国公司生产过芯片。
TSMC’s discovery raises questions about how Huawei, considered China’s best hope of ascending the semiconductor industry, got its hands on advanced chips. Research firm TechInsights recently discovered that Huawei’s latest AI servers contained processors made by TSMC, Nvidia Corp.’s most important manufacturing partner.
台积电的发现引发了关于华为如何获得先进芯片的问题,华为被认为是中国在半导体行业崛起的最佳希望。研究公司 TechInsights 最近发现,华为最新的人工智能服务器中包含由台积电制造的处理器,台积电是英伟达公司最重要的制造合作伙伴。
Read More: Huawei Technologies’ Latest AI Chips Were Produced by TSMC
阅读更多:华为技术的最新 AI 芯片由台积电生产
Huawei has been on a sanctions list since 2020 and is barred from doing business with TSMC and its chipmaking peers without a US government license. In the past year, Huawei has relied on local partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. for production, including a 7-nanometer chip unveiled last August in a Huawei smartphone.
华为自 2020 年以来一直在制裁名单上,未经美国政府许可,禁止与台积电及其芯片制造同行进行业务往来。在过去一年中,华为依赖本地合作伙伴中芯国际进行生产,包括去年八月在华为智能手机中推出的 7 纳米芯片。
But US officials have questioned SMIC’s ability to make 7-nm chips at scale. Huawei’s use of TSMC output for its latest AI chips may be a sign that reinforces that narrative. The Taiwanese chipmaker has said it stopped all shipments to Huawei after Sept. 15, 2020, which the company reiterated when asked about the TechInsights report.
但美国官员质疑中芯国际大规模生产 7 纳米芯片的能力。华为对其最新 AI 芯片使用台积电的产出,可能是强化这一说法的一个迹象。这家台湾芯片制造商表示,在 2020 年 9 月 15 日之后已停止向华为发货,该公司在被问及 TechInsights 报告时重申了这一点。
A TSMC representative declined to comment on the latest development. A Huawei spokesperson had no immediate comment when contacted by Bloomberg News. A US Commerce Department spokesperson said the agency’s Bureau of Industry and Security is “aware of reporting alleging potential violations of US export controls.”
台积电的一位代表拒绝对最新进展发表评论。华为发言人在接受彭博新闻采访时没有立即作出回应。美国商务部的一位发言人表示,该部门的工业与安全局“已注意到有关可能违反美国出口管制的报道。”
“TSMC is a law-abiding company, and we are committed to complying with all applicable rules and regulations, including applicable export controls,” the company said in its emailed statement Tuesday. “We proactively communicated with the US Commerce Department regarding the matter in the report. We are not aware of TSMC being the subject of any investigation at this time.”
“台积电是一家守法的公司,我们致力于遵守所有适用的规则和法规,包括适用的出口管制,”该公司在周二的电子邮件声明中表示。“我们主动与美国商务部就报告中的事项进行了沟通。目前我们并不知晓台积电正受到任何调查。”
Read More: Huawei Teardown Shows Chip Breakthrough in Blow to US Sanctions
阅读更多:华为拆解显示芯片突破,打击美国制裁
In a separate statement, Huawei said Tuesday it hasn’t “produced any chips via TSMC after the implementation of the amendments made by the US Department of Commerce to its FDPR that target Huawei in 2020.” FDPR refers to the foreign direct product rule — a US trade restriction.
在一份单独的声明中,华为周二表示,自 2020 年美国商务部对其 FDPR 进行修订以来,它没有“通过台积电生产任何芯片。” FDPR 指的是外国直接产品规则——一项美国贸易限制。
Republican Representative John Moolenaar, chairman of the House China Select Committee, said Wednesday that reports of TSMC-made chips in Huawei devices “represent a catastrophic failure of US export control policy.” He called for “immediate answers from both BIS and TSMC about the scope and volume of this disaster.”
共和党代表约翰·穆伦纳尔,众议院中国特别委员会主席,周三表示,关于华为设备中使用台积电制造的芯片的报道“代表了美国出口管制政策的灾难性失败。”他呼吁“立即向 BIS 和台积电询问这一灾难的范围和数量。”
Taiwan respects US export control measures and will communicate this fully to TSMC, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo told reporters on Wednesday.
台湾尊重美国的出口管制措施,经济事务部长郭俊铭周三对记者表示,将会全面与台积电沟通此事。
BIS officials had met with TSMC executives in mid-October about issues related to the chipmaker’s supply chain, including whether third-party distributors may provide China access restricted technology, according to another person familiar with the matter, who described that meeting as collaborative. It was unclear if they touched on the client discovery.
根据另一位熟悉此事的人士,国际清算银行(BIS)官员在十月中旬与台积电(TSMC)高管会面,讨论与芯片制造商供应链相关的问题,包括第三方分销商是否可能向中国提供受限技术。该人士形容这次会议为合作性质,目前尚不清楚他们是否涉及客户发现的问题。
AI accelerators — chips used to develop artificial intelligence models — have become a prized commodity in the tech industry.
AI 加速器——用于开发人工智能模型的芯片——已成为科技行业的珍贵商品。
Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia uses TSMC to produce its market-leading versions, driving its sales and valuation in the past two years. The US has limited exports of cutting-edge Nvidia chips to China, and Huawei is offering its accelerators as a domestic alternative.
位于加利福尼亚州圣克拉拉的英伟达利用台积电生产其市场领先的版本,推动了过去两年的销售和估值。美国对向中国出口尖端英伟达芯片进行了限制,而华为则提供其加速器作为国内替代品。
Huawei’s 910 — the precursor to the 910B — was in production in 2019, before the US government expanded sanctions on the Chinese telecom giant. Huawei stockpiled TSMC components around that time, which allowed the company to use a TSMC 5-nm chip, which is a generation ahead of 7-nm, in a laptop released late last year.
华为的 910——910B 的前身——在 2019 年开始生产,当时美国政府扩大了对这家中国电信巨头的制裁。华为在那段时间囤积了台积电的组件,这使得公司能够在去年底发布的笔记本电脑中使用台积电的 5 纳米芯片,这比 7 纳米芯片领先一代。
— With assistance from Mackenzie Hawkins, Jane Lanhee Lee, and Jessica Sui
— 在麦肯齐·霍金斯、简·兰希·李和杰西卡·隋的协助下
(Updates with quote from congressman.)
(更新了国会议员的报价。)
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