TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The US announced Wednesday new measures to further restrict chipmakers like TSMC and Samsung from supplying Chinese and unverified companies, Nikkei Asia reported Thursday.
All chips under or at 14 or 16 nm with transistor counts exceeding 30 billion will be restricted. Furthermore, chips with more than 50 billion transistors will be flagged for suspicion.
Chips can contain billions of transistors, and more of them means better performance. For example, Nvidia’s latest Blackwell superchip is powered by 208 billion transistors. Advanced chips can be used in AI and military systems.
To date, only TSMC, Samsung, Intel, and China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation can produce chips that are beyond 14 or 16 nm. The smaller a node, the more advanced it is.
TSMC produces approximately 90% of the world’s most advanced chips, with Taiwan producing about 68% of all global chip production.
The US also put more than two dozen Chinese companies on its restricted trade list, including Zhipu AI and Sophogo. Entities on the list cannot receive technology without a license, which is usually denied.
The salvo is Washington’s latest effort to curb China’s access to advanced chips. In November, industry sources said TSMC stopped sending advanced chips to China allegedly on US orders, per Reuters.
One month later, the US launched a Section 301 investigation into China’s semiconductor industry, targeted at curbing its defense sector. Washington said it will work with partners on chip production and address concerns about China’s policies.
At the crux of these restrictions is Huawei, which US policymakers see as an extension of the Chinese Communist Party. The Federal Communications Commission called the electronics giant a threat to national security in June 2020.
Additionally, the US Bureau of Industry and Security created a whitelist of 33 “approved” chip designers, mainly from the US, including Apple and Nvidia, per Nikkei Asia. However, the chipmakers must submit an advisory opinion to the US government if they work with a company on a product that falls under export regulations.
