Huawei used TSMC, Samsung, SK Hynix components in top AI chips: TechInsights
[WASHINGTON, DC] Huawei Technologies used advanced components from Asia’s largest technology firms in at least some of its leading Ascend AI processors, a research firm discovered during teardowns, highlighting China’s reliance on foreign hardware as it works to boost domestic production of artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors.TechInsights discovered gear from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in multiple samples of Huawei’s third-generation Ascend 910C chips, the firm said in a statement.
In an investigation, the Ottawa-based researchers concluded that TSMC manufactured the dies used in the Huawei accelerators.
They also uncovered an older-generation type of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), designated HBM2E, made by Samsung and SK Hynix. Components from the two manufacturers were found in two different samples of the Ascend 910C, TechInsights said.
Huawei did not respond to a request for comment during a week-long holiday in China.
The Shenzhen-based hardware giant has been a target of American policymakers since President Donald Trump’s first term, when Washington embarked on a years-long campaign to curtail Beijing’s semiconductor prowess. It added Huawei to its Entity List, restricting the flow of technology to the Chinese firm.
The broader US effort has also included export restrictions on AI chips themselves, the HBM they are paired with, and the tools and components used to make both.
Those policies aim to block Beijing’s access to frontier AI systems, and prevent Huawei and other Chinese chipmakers from developing the manufacturing capacity to challenge Nvidia on the global stage.
Chinese officials, meanwhile, want to wean the country off Nvidia chips.
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Huawei used TSMC, Samsung, SK Hynix components in top AI chips: TechInsights, source
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