Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules.
TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday.
The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
“TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are committed to complying with all applicable rules and regulations, including applicable export controls,” TSMC said in an e-mail yesterday.
The chipmaker’s move came as it faces mounting pressure from the US department to comply with its semiconductor restrictions, underscoring the escalation in the China-US technology war, the report said.
Last week, TSMC stopped 7-nanometer chip shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) AI chip.
The suspension of TSMC chips would deal a heavy blow to China’s AI and GPU designers and undermine their chip performance and competitive edge, the report said.
TSMC might gain greater business opportunities from the US by following the commerce department’s rules, it added.
Taiwan’s chip companies are warned to brace for stricter regulations after US president-elect Donald Trump won the election.
Trump last month accused Taiwan of “stealing” the US chip industry and threatened to levy tariffs on chips from Taiwan.
As TSMC is a major supplier of advanced chips to Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Intel Corp, any tariff hikes could inflate electronics prices and increase US inflation, it remains to be seen whether Trump would impose sweeping or selective tariffs, Macronix International Co (旺宏) chairman Miin Wu (吳敏求) said on Thursday.
Macronix is the world’s biggest supplier of NOR flash memory chips.
To safeguard US advancements in AI technology, there is a likelihood that the US might request TSMC to produce all cutting-edge chips in the US, including the most advanced chips, given rising tension between Taiwan and China, Wu said.
Without adequate bargaining power, TSMC and the government might find it difficult to turn down the request, Wu added.
TSMC is to ramp up production of 4-nanometer chips at its first US fab in Arizona next month. The chipmaker plans to build two more advanced fabs in Arizona for the production of 2-nanometer and more advanced chips in the US.
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