Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC halted shipments to a customer this month after its semiconductors were sent to China’s Huawei, a Taipei government official told AFP, potentially breaching U.S. sanctions. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of chips used in everything from Apple iPhones to Nvidia’s cutting-edge artificial intelligence hardware. Huawei, the world’s leading equipment maker for fifth generation mobile internet networks, has been embroiled in a tech war between Beijing and Washington. The United States slapped sanctions on Huawei in 2019, and expanded them the following year, over fears its technology could be used for Beijing’s espionage operations. Huawei denies the allegations. The sanctions cut Huawei off from global supply chains that gave it access to the U.S.-made components and technologies crucial to manufacturing powerful AI systems. The restrictions prevent TSMC from selling semiconductors to Huawei. But, TSMC discovered on October 11 that chips made for a “specific customer” had ended up with the Chinese company, a Taiwanese official with knowledge of the incident told AFP on the condition of anonymity. TSMC “immediately activated its export control procedures”, halting shipments to the customer and “proactively” notifying U.S. and Taiwan authorities, the official said. In a statement on Wednesday, TSMC said it was a “law-abiding company” and had not supplied Huawei since mid-September 2020 in compliance with export controls.

Full report : TSMC Cuts Off Client After Discovering Chips Sent to Huawei Circumventing the U.S. Sanctions.