TSMC halts advanced chip orders from mainland China after US export curbs evasion: source

TSMC has told mainland Chinese clients it will no longer produce advanced chips for them, according to person briefed on the notice

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TSMC is the world’s largest contract chip maker. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:00pm, 8 Nov 2024

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, told its graphics-processor and AI-accelerator clients in mainland China that the company will no longer produce advanced chips for them, according to a person familiar with the matter.

TSMC said in a notice sent earlier this week that it will stop accepting orders requiring the processing of advanced nodes at 7-nanometre or smaller from those customers starting next week, according to the source, who is an executive at a mainland chip design firm briefed on the notice. The source declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Ijiwei.com, a Chinese news site covering the domestic semiconductor industry, first reported the news on Friday. TSMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company’s move came after a Canadian research firm said it found components made by TSMC in a Huawei Technologies 910B artificial intelligence (AI) processor, suggesting a possible breach of US export controls.

TSMC-made components were said to have been found in a Huawei product. Photo: Reuters

TSMC denied any wrongdoing and pledged to work with the US Commerce Department to investigate the issue. Huawei said it “has not produced any chips via TSMC since the US Department of Commerce implemented its amended foreign direct product rule that targeted Huawei in 2020”.