US may fine TSMC $1B over chip allegedly used in Huawei AI processor

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) may have to pay a fine of $1 billion or more to resolve a U.S. export control investigation related to a chip it made that was used in a Huawei AI processor, according to a report by Reuters. TSMC did not provide any further comments as it is now “in [a] quiet period,” a spokesperson for the chipmaker said in an emailed statement to TechCrunch. It’s the latest development in a situation that first came to light in late 2024 involving TSMC, Huawei, and Xiamen Sophgo Technologies, a Chinese chip designer. Sophgo is an affiliate of Bitmain, a Bitcoin mining equipment supplier, and TSMC is the world’s biggest contract chipmaker. Reports at the time indicated that a significant quantity of TSMC’s export-controlled AI chip dies went into Huawei‘s mass-produced AI accelerator, the Ascend 910B AI processor. In nesting-doll fashion, it’s alleged that TSMC’s chip is built into Sophgo’s chip, and Sophgo’s chip is subsequently built into the As ... Read full article.