TSMC notifies U.S. of reported use of its chip in Huawei product

Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) on Wednesday said it had notified the U.S. government that one of its chips was reportedly found in a Huawei product, in a possible violation of U.S. export restrictions.

According to international media reports, tech research firm TechInsights recently discovered a TSMC chip while taking apart Huawei's Ascend 910B, which is considered the Chinese company's most advanced artificial intelligence chip.

TechInsights informed TSMC of its findings before publishing them in a report -- which has yet to be released -- while TSMC notified the U.S. Commerce Department, Reuters reported.

In a statement Wednesday, TSMC said it is committed to complying with all applicable rules and regulations, including export controls, and as such has not supplied Huawei since mid-September 2020.

The company said it had proactively reached out to the U.S. Commerce Department regarding "the matter in the report."

"We are not aware of TSMC being the subject of any investigation at this time," it said.

The U.S. placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for national security reasons. According to Reuters, TSMC produced chips for the early stages of Huawei's Ascend 910 series, before U.S. export controls came into effect.