The US government plans to blacklist a Chinese chipmaker called Sophgo, whose component was found in a Huawei artificial-intelligence processor. Sophgo is an affiliate of bitcoin mining equipment supplier Bitmain and has denied any business ties with Huawei. The move comes after a chip found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B multi-chip system matched one ordered by Sophgo from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). TSMC halted shipments to Sophgo after the discovery.
Sophgo is in the process of being added to the US Entity List, which bars exporters from shipping goods and technology to companies deemed a threat to national security. The list has previously included Huawei, which was placed on it in 2019. Other Chinese companies have also been added to the list this month for their alleged ties to Huawei.
The US Commerce Department has not commented on the blacklist plan. Sophgo has denied any business relationships with Huawei and supplies state-run firms such as China Telecom. However, the company has communicated with the US Federal Communications Commission using a Bitmain email address.
TSMC halted shipments to Sophgo after determining that the chip matched Sophgo’s design. The US government move is part of its efforts to curb Huawei’s influence in the global technology industry.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-plans-blacklist-company-that-ordered-tsmc-chip-found-huawei-processor-source-2024-12-20