Last week we reported TSMC started suspending shipments of chips with 7nm technology and below to their customers in China. Action was taken after a chip ordered by a Chinese company was found on an AI chip produced by Huawei that has been subject to technology restrictions since 2020.
Today there is also a report that the delivery will be stopped starting today on the orders of the United States. Intermediation involves not only CPU chips but also GPUs that may be used to circumvent various restrictions imposed on companies included in the United States Department of Commerce's entity list.
Production will still continue but is subject to an approval process that may involve the United States first. Barriers to the sale of the latest AI chips produced by AMD and NVIDIA have been imposed by the US on China for the past two years. China is trying to develop its own AI chips but their efforts are facing various obstacles due to technological barriers.
Among the efforts made by China is making high investments to drive the local semiconductor industry. There are reports that Huawei is willing to pay triple the salary to TSMC employees who move to their company.