The US government has quietly revoked some export licences from Intel and Qualcomm, cutting off more chip supplies to Huawei!
US quietly revokes Intel + Qualcomm export licences to Huawei!
A week after Huawei unveiled its MateBook X Pro laptop, which is powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, the US government quietly revoked some export licences from Intel and Qualcomm, cutting off more chip supplies to Huawei!
It does not appear that Intel has violated any sanctions by supplying its latest Core processors to Huawei for its laptop. After all, Intel received a licence to export laptop CPUs to Huawei in 2020. Qualcomm also received a licence in 2020, to sell older 4G chips to Huawei.
However, American politicians who are critical of China have said that any authorisation by the Commerce Department “would be unacceptable and a failure to enforce export controls against a blacklisted champion of the Chinese Communist Party.”
That could explain the quiet revocation of existing export licences on Tuesday, 7 May 2024, not only affecting Intel and Qualcomm, but also other unnamed companies as well.
The US Department of Commerce confirmed that it revoked some export licences, but did not specify which licences were cancelled, and which companies were affected. However, Intel and Qualcomm have confirmed that some (but not all) of their licences were revoked.
While AMD has not been mentioned, it seems likely that Intel’s rival could also be affected.
Revoked Intel + Qualcomm Export Licences Will Hurt Huawei
The export licences being revoked appear to target processors and System-on-a-Chip (SoCs) used in laptops and smartphones, although it is still unknown which exact chips are affected.
The loss of high-performance computer chips will be particularly hurt Huawei, as it has no viable alternative, especially if AMD had its export licences revoked as well.
Huawei was able to circumvent US sanctions by developing last year’s HiSilicon Kirin 9000S mobile SoC for its Mate 60 series of smartphones, and fabricating it using SMIC’s 7nm process technology. But it won’t be able to do this for its laptops, which are based on the x86 architecture.
That said, it seems likely that the US government is only interested in curtailing the export of high-performance processors to Huawei. If Intel and Qualcomm are still allowed to sell less powerful chips to Huawei, it may not be quite the death knell for the embattled Chinese company. But it will certainly hurt its competitiveness.
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OPPO just gave up on its custom chip aspirations, and has abruptly down its Zeku chip design division!
OPPO Shuts Down Its Zeku Chip Design Division!
OPPO has finally given up on its custom chip aspirations! The Chinese smartphone brand is shutting down its Zeku chip design division, which it established only a few years ago.
OPPO announced the decision abruptly in a short statement, and said that “the company will properly arrange related matters and continue to deliver great products and service to users worldwide“.
Due to the uncertainties in the global economy and the smartphone industry, we have to make difficult adjustments for long-term development. Therefore, the company has decided to cease the operation of Zeku.
This decision comes after rumours swirled that OPPO is preparing to withdraw from France, and even the whole of Europe by 30 June 2023. OPPO had earlier pulled its phones from Germany due to a legal spat with Nokia in 2022, and now OPPO France employees and partners claim that they were told to stop selling OPPO phones.
While OPPO finished Q1 2023 on a strong note – as the world’s 4th largest smartphone brand, its total shipments dropped 8%. That is better than the industry average – the global smartphone market shrank by 13% that quarter. It appears that OPPO believes global demand for smartphones will continue to be weak for quite some time to come…
Zeku started in 2019 by designing co-processors for imaging and other components in OPPO smartphones, but have not been able to develop a full SoC. Its biggest success was, arguably, the MariSilicon X neural processing unit (NPU) which it introduced in December 2021.
Finalised after three years of research and development, the OPPO MariSiliconX was fabricated on the 6 nm process technology. It was designed as a dedicated imaging NPU, to accelerate AI noise reduction algorithms, and deliver greater dynamic range and better colour reproduction.
That NPU has been used in many OPPO flagship smartphones, including the latest OPPO Find N2 Flip. After that, Zeku introduced MariSilicon Y in late 2022 – a wireless audio SoC.
Despite Zeku not being able to deliver a full mobile SoC, OPPO was expected to invest more in chip design, both as a way to differentiate from other brands, as well as a way to avoid getting cut off chip supplies due to rising US-China tensions.
So the decision came as a surprise, especially when Zeku was still looking to hire more than 100 positions a month ago on LinkedIn!
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Is the US stealing advanced TSMC chip technologies from Taiwan, in the biggest international heist ever?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : US Is Stealing TSMC Chip Technologies From Taiwan!
This message has gone viral on WhatsApp and social media, claiming that two US professors have declared that the US is stealing Taiwan’s most advanced TSMC chip technologies!
It’s very long, so please feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!
Professor Ling-Chi Wang of UC Berkeley: I think the only way to describe what is happening to TSMC 台積电 in Hsinchu, Taiwan is to call it the biggest international heist, in broad daylight, of Taiwan’s biggest and most valuable manufacturing facility and intellectual property theft, estimated to be worth 4% of Taiwan’s GNP, considered by the people of Taiwan to be their 护国神山, ever undertaken in human history by the U.S. government.
The people of Taiwan are stunned by the magnitude and speed of the heist and the massive airlifting of the manufacturing facility, its most advance know-hows, and top scientists and engineers and their families to Phoenix, Arizona, commencing in December. The U.S. is paying billions to relocate and transport the company to the U.S.
The scale of intellectual robbery is unmatched by other large-scale international robberies I know of. The U.S. justified the robbery by declaring it a matter of “national security” of the U.S., based on the assumption that China will sooner or later seize Taiwan, thus depriving the U.S. and the world of its indispensable products.
What is even more stunning and insulting to the people of Taiwan is the conspicuous absence of any meaningful protest by the Taiwan government of Tsai Ing-wen. In fact, the government is aid and abetting the robbery.
Professor John V Walsh, MD, in San Francisco: First the US frightens them with threats of war and turning Taiwan into a porcupine bristling with American weapons. No one wants to live in Ukraine 2.0.
Then the US offers an “escape hatch” to Arizona where these Taiwanese may find the US anti-China rhetoric a bit much to stomach – and no distinctions made between Taiwanese and Chinese by street toughs.
Truth : US Is NOT Stealing TSMC Chip Technologies From Taiwan!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛), and shared by pro-CCP netizens, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : No Evidence Professor Ling-Chin Wang Wrote It
First, let’s establish some basic facts about Professor Ling-Chi Wang. He is an ethnologist (not technologist), which means he studies and teaches about cultures and societies, not chips or technology.
He is also a Professor Emeritus of Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies at UC Berkeley, which means he is retired.
There is no evidence that Professor Ling Chin-Wang wrote any part of the viral message. He is not on Facebook, and he has not posted anything on his official LinkedIn page either.
The earliest and most complete example of this viral message appears to be written by a Chinese writer called Yu Ligong, who posted it on Facebook on 24 November 2022.
Fact #2 : No Evidence Professor John V. Walsh Wrote It
John V. Walsh was a professor of physiology and neuroscience at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. He has since retired.
He writes on issues of peace and healthcare, but there is no evidence he actually wrote that small section about turning Taiwan into a porcupine of American weapons, or Ukraine 2.0.
Again, the earliest example appears to be the Facebook post by the Chinese writer, Yu Ligong.
Fact #3 : TSMC Is Not Shifting Their Existing Fabs To US
The viral post falsely claims that the US government paid billions to relocate TSMC to the United States, airlifting its manufacturing facility to Arizona.
That’s not true – TSMC will still remain in Taiwan, where most of its fabs are located. The new Arizona fab will merely be another one of its many fabs. That’s why it’s known as Fab 21.
It is also impossible to “airlift” a semiconductor fabrication plant. Have you seen how massive it is?
Fact #4 : TSMC Owns Arizona Fab 21
The viral post falsely claims that the US government is robbing Taiwan of its prized intellectual property – TSMC’s most advanced chip technologies.
That’s patently false, because TSMC isn’t building a semiconductor plant for the US government. TSMC is building a new fab in Arizona, which it will fully own.
The TSMC Arizona plant, when fully completed, will be one of the most advanced semiconductor fabs in the world, producing both 3-nanometer and 5-nanometer chips.
Regardless of where it builds its wafer fabs, TSMC continues to own its intellectual property, except possibly in China.
This was pointed out by Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in his June 2022 op-ed arguing for more subsidies for American chipmakers.
… foreign chipmakers vying for U.S. subsidies will keep their valuable intellectual property on their own shores, ensuring that the most lucrative and cutting-edge manufacturing stays there and requiring the U.S. to make the difficult choice between forgoing the advanced chips necessary for critical national security applications or relying on insecure, foreign supply chains for them.
Unlike China, the United States does not demand technology transfers to gain access to its massive market. So no, the US does not gain TSMC’s intellectual properties just because it subsidises Fab 21 in Arizona.
It may be different in China, where the CCP government is notorious for insisting on technology transfers.
Fact #6 : TSMC Arizona Is Second US Fab
TSMC Arizona isn’t even the first semiconductor plant the Taiwanese company built in the United States.
Back in 1995, TSMC started work on a $1.2 billion semiconductor plant called Fab 11 at Camas, Washington, which produces 8-inch wafers.
Fact #7 : TSMC Has Two Fabs In China!
If the writer believes that building a fab overseas means that the foreign country owns TSMC’s intellectual property, then it would mean that China “stole” TSMC’s intellectual property as well.
That’s because TSMC has not one, but TWO wafer fabs in China!
Fab 10 in Shanghai, which produces 200 mm wafers
Fab 16 in Nanjing, which produces 300 mm wafers
In April 2021, TSMC announced that it would expand capacity at their Nanjing fab, which it would also upgrade to produce smaller 16 nm chips.
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TSMC stopped making artificial intelligence chips for China’s Biren Technology, and it was all Biren’s own fault!
TSMC Stops Making Biren AI Chips Over US Sanctions
TSMC – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company – has suspended production of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips for China’s Biren Technology.
TSMC was forced to make this decision after public domain information revealed that the Biren BR100 and BR104 chips outperformed the NVIDIA A100 chip, which was used as the baseline of US sanctions.
While TSMC has not reached a conclusion on whether the top-of-the-line Biren BR100 or the slower BR104 meet or exceed US government threshold on advanced AI chip technology restrictions, it decided to stop production and supply of the Biren chips for now.
For TSMC to continue producing BR100 or BR104 chips, Biren must now prove that their chips do not offer “peak performance and chip-to-chip I/O performance equal to or greater than thresholds that are roughly equivalent to the [NVIDIA] A100“, or get an export licence from the US Department of Commerce.
And believe it or not – it was Biren Technology that created this mess for itself!
How Biren Screwed Up Its Own BR100 AI Chips
Biren, which is one of China’s most promising semiconductor design firms, earlier claimed that its AI chips that were being produced by TSMC are not covered by the latest US export restrictions.
However, its own website touts that the BR100 family of chips offers “world-class performance“, and has “improved by more than 3X” compared to mainstream rivals.
On top of that, Biren actually released a press statement on September 9, 2022, declaring that the slower BR104 was proven by the MLPerf to beat the NVIDIA A100!
Releasing such a statement less than 2 weeks after the US government ordered both AMD and NVIDIA to stop exporting their MI250 and A100 and faster AI chips to China is either amazing chutzpah, or a combination of hubris and idiocy.
Either way, the US government took notice, and TSMC came under pressure to comply with American export restrictions. Awesome PR, but stupid move, Biren…
Take a look at the benchmark results that Biren itself released into public domain, showing that the slower BR104 chip was between 27% and 58% faster than the NVIDIA A100.
With such results, the BR104 would certainly fall under the latest US tech export restrictions. No wonder TSMC quickly stopped making and supplying Biren BR100 series chips.
As powerful as the BR100 and BR104 GPGPU chips may be, they are now dead in the water as TSMC will not manufacture them anymore, and Biren Technology has no plausible alternatives for 7nm fabrication.
The Biren BR100 and slower BR104 are General Purpose GPU (GPGPU) chips, which are targeted at artificial intelligence applications.
They are both fabricated on the TSMC 7nm process technology, and use chipset and 2.5D Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) packaging technologies to achieve high yield, and high performance.
The Biren BR100 family of GPGPU chips supports up to eight independent virtual instances (SVI) – each physically isolated with their own hardware resources, for improved security.
Their chips are designed with a proprietary Blink high-speed GPU interconnect bus offering bandwidth of up to 448 GB/s, with the ability to connect up to 8 cards in a single node, using state-of-the-art PCI Express 5.0.
Biren Technology offers two BR100-based products – the Bili 100P OCP Accelerator Module (OAM), and the Bill 104P PCI Express accelerator card.
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Apple just froze its original plan to use China’s YMTC NAND flash memory chips in their iPhones!
Apple Freezes Use Of China’s YMTC NAND Chips!
On Monday, October 17, 2022, Nikkei Asia (paywall) reported that Apple just froze its original plan to use NAND flash memory chips from Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC)!
Apple had originally planned to start using NAND flash memory chips manufactured by YMTC in iPhones manufactured for the Chinese market, eventually purchasing up to 40% of its chip requirements from the Chinese state-funded company.
Those plans had to be put on hold after the US government announced stricter technology export controls designed to block China’s access to advanced semiconductor technologies.
The United States added YMTC – China’s top memory chipmaker – and 30 other Chinese companies to its “Unverified List” of companies that its official are unable to inspect to ensure compliance with its export controls.
The United States also initiated a new 60-day deadline for entities under the “Unverified List” to allow for complete end-to-end inspections, or risk even tougher penalties if added to the infamous “Entity List“.
YMTC is also being investigated by the US Commerce Department over allegations it violated earlier United States export controls by selling chips to HUAWEI, which was blacklisted under the Trump Administration.
Apple Decision Stymies Earlier Preparations By YMTC
Apple’s decision to freeze its purchase of YMTC flash memory chips stymies earlier preparations by the Wuhan-based memory chipmaker to mitigate looming US export controls.
According to four employees who spoke to Financial Times, YMTC had been stockpiling foreign equipment for months after US lawmakers started urging the Biden Administration to punish it for helping the Chinese military and violating trade restrictions by supply HUAWEI with chips.
YMTC has also come under scrutiny over concerns that massive Chinese government subsidies allow it to sells its chips below market price, even at a loss, just to gain market share at the expense of other companies.
We’ve been doing everything possible beforehand to support existing production lines, such as stockpiling all kinds of equipment.
– Senior YMTC engineer
All that preparation was for naught, because Apple’s decision to freeze its massive purchase of YMTC flash memory chips is only the tip of the iceberg.
Other companies will similarly be forced to freeze or cancel their purchase of YMTC chips unless YMTC acquiesces to comply with audit requirements by US officials – a step the Chinese chipmaker is (politically) incapable of taking.
YMTC is, after all, China’s largest memory chipmaker, and a national champion in the country’s drive to build a domestic chip industry. It received 220 billion yuan (over $30.5 billion) in funding from both the Hubei province, and a national fund.
After the Biden Administration announced new chip export restrictions, the top three US chip toolmakers – KLA Corporation, Lam Research and Applied Materials immediately stopped sales and services to YMTC.
Despite its earlier stockpiling efforts, one YMTC employee revealed that the company only had enough wafers and parts for equipment repairs to last a year, but that’s assuming it won’t need technical support from foreign companies.
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Artificial intelligence chip developer, Habana Labs, just laid off over 10% of its workforce, just as Intel plans to layoff up to 20% of its employees.
Intel’s Habana Labs Cuts Over 10% Of Workforce!
Intel acquired artificial intelligence chip developer Habana Labs in 2019 for $2 billion. The acquisition allowed Habana Labs to rapidly increase its workforce from 180 people to over 900.
That breakneck expansion has not only come to a shuddering halt, it is being reversed – Habana Labs is laying off 100 of their employees. According to an Intel statement:
Habana Labs assesses and updates its technical and business focus from time to time in order to adapt to the current business reality and to continue and improve its competitiveness.
As part of these processes, it makes adjustments to its workforce and the balance between different disciplines from time to time. This is a normal process which occurs constantly and allows Habana to continue and develop attractive and competitive products and solutions.
Habana Labs was founded by David Dahan and Ran Halutz in San Jose in 2016, for the purpose of developing processors optimised for Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications.
Both Dahan and Halutz were former executives of PrimeSense Limited, which was acquired by Apple for $360 million in 2013. Its first investor and chairman was Israeli tech entrepreneur Avigdor Willenz.
Habana Labs Cuts Employees Before Major Intel Layoffs
Habana Labs functions as an independent unit within Intel, which is why it announced its layoffs before Intel announced its own major layoffs later this month.
According to Bloomberg News, Intel is planning major layoffs of its staff, “as early as this month” – around the same time its third quarter earnings report is announced on October 27.
This reduction in headcount will be substantial, affecting Intel sales and marketing team the hardest – around 20% of their members are expected to receive pink slips.
This decision comes after two years of booming sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, and just as Intel is set to receive billions in funding from the US government under the CHIPS Act.
Gartner recently announced that worldwide PC shipments only totalled 68 million units in the third quarter of 2022 – a 19.5% drop from a year ago. This was the steepest market decline it recorded since it started tracking the market in the mid-1990s.
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Intel is planning major layoffs of its staff, due to declining demand for its chips, even as it is set to receive billions in funding from the CHIPS Act!
Intel Planning Major Layoffs, Amid Market Downturn!
According to Bloomberg News, Intel is planning major layoffs of its staff, “as early as this month” – around the same time its third quarter earnings report is announced on October 27.
This reduction in headcount will be substantial, affecting Intel sales and marketing team the hardest – around 20% of their members are expected to receive pink slips.
This decision comes after two years of booming sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, and just as Intel is set to receive billions in funding from the US government under the CHIPS Act.
Gartner recently announced that worldwide PC shipments only totalled 68 million units in the third quarter of 2022 – a 19.5% drop from a year ago. This was the steepest market decline it recorded since it started tracking the market in the mid-1990s.
On October 11, 2022, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced a new path for growth during this economic downturn – the creation of an internal foundry model for external customers, and Intel product lines.
Intel will also create an IDM 2.0 Acceleration Officer under the leadership of Stuart Pann. IDM is short for Integrated Device Manufacturing.
IDM 2.0 is Intel’s plans to become a major provider of semiconductor foundry capacity in the US and Europe to serve customers globally.
Intel Not Alone In Layoffs During This Market Downturn
Intel wouldn’t be alone in cutting jobs. Meta and Microsoft had already announced layoffs. Meta quietly laid off about 12,000 “underperforming” Facebook employees recently, while Microsoft announced in July 2022 that it laid off almost 1,800 employees.
Even Sundar Pichai – the CEO of mighty Alphabet hinted at the possibility of layoffs, saying he wanted to make Google 20% more efficient and that could include cutting its headcount.
Many other corporations have also been laying off employees amidst the global economic slowdown and high inflation that is fuelling recession fears – Tencent, Alibaba, Tesla, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, etc.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The US government just imposed sweeping chip and chipmaking export restrictions that target Chinese military capabilities!
US Targets Chinese Military With New Chip Export Ban!
On Friday, October 7, 2022, the US government announced new regulations on computer chips and chipmaking technologies designed to target Chinese military capabilities.
The stated goal of these new export restrictions is to “block the People’s Liberation Army and China’s domestic surveillance apparatus from gaining access to advanced computing capabilities that require the use of advanced semiconductors.”
According to US officials, these rules target not only the sale and export of chips, but also the tools and software that might help the Chinese military in any way, including aiding the development of weapons of mass destruction.
Unlike earlier rules that target specific Chinese companies (like HUAWEI), the new rules have far greater reach, covering everything from chips made by AMD and NVIDIA, to complex and expensive hardware and software used to design and manufacture semiconductor chips.
These rules, some of which go into effect immediately, build on existing restrictions that were earlier applied to top chip toolmaking companies in the US, like KLA Corporation, Lam Research Corporation, and Applied Material Incorporated.
It’s not just advanced chips used for AI computing and national security or military applications that are being targeted.
The new rules are more generic, and forbid US companies from selling technologies to indigenous Chinese companies that will enable the production of:
DRAM chips at 18 nm or below,
NAND flash chips at 128 layers or above, and
logic chips at 14 nm or below.
Even foreign companies operating China are somewhat affected. US companies will need to obtain a license to export more advanced equipment to them.
But in a concession to South Korea, the US government will spare SK Hynix and Samsung from these measures. US companies will be able to continue supplying their production facilities in China.
Many of the rules aim to block foreign companies from selling advanced chips or chipmaking technologies and tools to China. However, the US government will need to “lean” on those countries to introduce similar measures.
Most advanced chips are manufactured in South Korea and Taiwan. If they continue to export to China, they will allow China to bypass US restrictions.
On Saturday, the Chinese government criticised the new US chip export ban, calling it a violation of International economic and trade rules that will “isolate and backfire” on the US.
Out of the need to maintain its sci-tech hegemony, the U.S. abuses export control measures to maliciously block and suppress Chinese companies.
It will not only damage the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, but also affect American companies’ interest.
– Mao Ning, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson
Despite Mao’s assertions that US actions will not stop China’s progress, the new wide-ranging chip and chipmaking export ban will undoubtedly be detrimental to the Chinese semiconductor industry, and set back its attempts at indigenous production by many years.
On the other hand, this export ban will spur China to redouble its efforts to develop its own chipmaking capabilities, and possibly “strike back” by restricting exports of rare earths to US companies.
US Chip Export Rules Affecting Chinese Companies Summarised
Here is a summary of the new restrictions that take effect on Friday (October 7, 2022):
Tools that are capable of producing logic chips made using fin field-effect transistors (FinFET) are blocked from sale to China.
Tools capable of fabricating NAND flash storage chips with 128-layer technology or greater, and DRAM based on 18-nanometer half-pitch or less technology are blocked from sale to China.
Servicing and maintenance of restricted tools are also banned, which would prevent keeping advanced equipment in good enough shape to keep producing quality chips at high volume.
US citizens currently servicing or supporting tools on the restricted list must halt their activities by Wednesday, October 12.
Export of items that China can use to make its own chip manufacturing tools, such as a photolithography light source and other specialised components are also blocked from sale to China.
The US Commerce Department also enacted these additional measures on Friday:
31 Chinese entities were added to the Unverified List, which consists of companies that the US government believes could divert technology that they purchase to restricted entities.
The Commerce Department expanded the scope of controls for the 28 Chinese firms already on the US Entity List, including presumptively denying any licenses because of the risk they will divert technology to the Chinese military.
Then two weeks later, these restrictions will take effect on Friday, October 21, 2022:
Using a new foreign direct product rule, the U.S. will block any chips that used in advanced computing and artificial intelligence applications.
The foreign direct product rule can block chips made by non-US companies — including Chinese chip designers — if they use American technology or software.
TSMC may be forced by this new rule to halt production on advanced AI or supercomputer chips designed by Chinese firms that are fabricated in Taiwan, unless it gets an exemption.
A new foreign direct product rule will apply to components and chips destined for supercomputers in China.
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The Biden Administration is planning to hit China with more restrictions on chip supplies, as well as chipmaking technology!
Biden To Hit China With More Chip Restrictions!
Sources familiar with the matter just revealed to Channel News Asia that the Biden Administration plans to hit China with more more restrictions on chip supplies, as well as chipmaking technology.
In September 2022, the US Commerce Department intends to publish new regulations for the semiconductor industry, based on :
restrictions that earlier applied only to KLA Corporation, Lam Research Corporation, and Applied Material Incorporated.
The first three US companies received letters from the US Commerce Department, explicitly forbidding them from exporting chipmaking equipment to Chinese factories that produce sub-14 nanometer semiconductors without special export licences.
AMD and NVIDIA, on the other hand, received letters informing them that they were now banned from selling high-performance AI chips to China (as well as Russia) without special export licences.
On top of those restrictions, the US Commerce Department will likely impose additional chip restrictions on China.
The US Chamber of Commerce claims last week that the Commerce Department plans to add more Chinese supercomputing entities to a trade blacklist.
Why Biden Is Introducing More Chip Restrictions On China
The US Commerce Department issued those 5 companies the so-called “is informed” letters to quickly impose restrictions without going through the lengthy rule-writing process, but they would only apply to companies that receive them.
That leaves open the possibility for other companies to bypass those restrictions, or offer comparable chips or technologies to the Chinese as an alternative.
For example, NVIDIA is banned from selling their A100 artificial intelligence chips to Chinese companies. However, China can still purchase servers containing NVIDIA A100 chips from Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Super Micro Computer.
Hence, the new regulations serve to codify those restrictions and apply them across the board, preventing those chips and technologies from “leaking” to China.
As a general rule, we look to codify any restrictions that are in is-informed letters with a regulatory change.
– Senior US Commerce Department official
The Biden Administration has also reached out to US allies to lobby them into enacting similar restrictions, to prevent China from obtaining critical chips and technologies through other sources.
This move comes after the US Congress voted to pass the historic CHIPS and Science Act, which not only provides semiconductor companies with billions of dollars of funding, but also blocks them from building advanced chip fabs in China.
The Biden Administration appears to be more cognisant than the Trump Administration of the risks of permitting China continued access to advanced semiconductors and chipmaking technologies.
The Chinese government has become very belligerent and aggressive in the South China Sea, and cutting access to advanced chips will reduce its ability to build more advanced missiles like the Dong-Feng 21 (DF-21) and the YJ-12.
China is also a source of chips that Russia desperately needs to build its own advanced missiles, so these rules would also prevent that possibility.
By blocking China’s access to advanced chips, the hope is that it will preclude hostilities from breaking out in Asia, and force an earlier and better conclusion of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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The US aims to block the construction of new advanced chip fabs in China and countries of concern like Russia.
Here is what you need to know…
US To Fund Building Of Advanced Chip Fabs!
The US Congress just passed the historic CHIPS and Science Act (HR 4346) – a massive $280 billion bill designed to bolster innovation and tech hubs in the United States.
The legislation passed with a Senate vote of 64-33, and a House vote of 243-187, approving :
$76 billion of funding to revive and boost chip production in the United States
$81 billion for the National Science Foundation over 5 years, for research, equipment and STEM education
Almost $10 billion for the National Institute of Standards and Technology
TSMC, Intel and Samsung are expected to benefit from the billions of dollars of funding, which would subsidise their construction of new advanced chip fabs in the United States.
There is however a big caveat in the legislation that the White House is expected to sign – any company that receives funding will be barred from building new advanced chip fabs in China and other countries of concern, like Russia.
The CHIPS and Sciences Act specifically bars companies that receive federal funding from “materially expanding” production of chips more advanced than 28 nanometres (28 nm) in countries of concern like China and Russia, for 10 years.
28 nm chips are not state-of-art, with production first starting more than 10 years ago – in 2011. However, they are still used in many applications, and China is free to keep producing these chips.
This move though will essentially limit development of advanced chips in China, by blocking foreign chipmakers from investing in more advanced fabs.
Intel had earlier lobbied hard against this move. In late 2021, Intel wanted to expand production in China but was pressured to sell its Dalian wafer plant to South Korea’s SK Hynix. Intel now only has chip packaging and testing facilities in China.
But that changed, and now Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is a big proponent of the bill, even suggesting that it might forego building its Ohio mega fab and shift it to Europe if the legislation did not pass.
Currently, the only semiconductor companies investing in fabs in China are Samsung and TSMC. So if they choose to accept US funding, both companies will have to stop building fabs that can produce chips that are more advanced than 28 nm.
Of the potential recipients of US funding, TSMC is the only company making relatively advanced chips in China. Its Nanjing fabs currently make 28 nm and more advanced 16 nm chips.
Unless TSMC spurns US funding, it won’t be able to invest in more advanced fabs in China. This will force China to rely on its own SMIC to develop more advanced chipmaking technologies.
US Quietly Expands Chip Equipment Ban To Fabs In China
In addition to the looming CHIPS Act, the US government also expanded its ban on the sale of machines for fabricating advanced chips.
The US government had earlier banned the sale of tools that allow China to manufacture chips at 10 nm or smaller. That ban was just extended to include tools that would allow the manufacture of chips 14 nm or smaller.
American equipment makers like LAM Research and KLA Corp. have received letters about this expanded ban, which appears to be limited to logic chips (like computer processors), but not memory chips.
According to the US Commerce Department, the move was meant to impair China’s ability to manufacture advanced chips :
The Biden Administration is focused on impairing PRC efforts to manufacture advanced semiconductors to address significant national security risks to the United States.
However, this move appears to be merely officiating what is already being practiced – the US Commerce Department had already declined many licences to sell 14nm fab equipment.
The Biden Administration is also pushing the Netherlands and Japan to ban ASML Holdings NV and Nikon Corp from selling advanced chip making equipment to China.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
China just banned food imports over 100 Taiwanese companies right before US Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan, but unsurprisingly not microchips!
Here is what you need to know…
China Bans Taiwan Food Products Over Pelosi!
While US Speaker Nancy Pelosi was flying to Taiwan from Malaysia, the General Administration of Customs for China announced an import ban on food products from over 100 Taiwanese companies.
Of those 100 Taiwanese companies, 35 are exporters of biscuits and pastries, including famous Taiwanese companies like Kuo Yuan Ye Corp (郭元益), Yu Jan Shin (裕珍馨), Kuai Kuai Co (乖乖), Imei Foods Co (義美食品), Chiate Bakery (佳德) and Kuang Ta Hsiang Foodstuffs Co (廣達香).
The other companies exported food products like tea, honey and seafood. Of the 3,200 Taiwanese food products registered for export to China, 2,066 (64.6%) had their imports suspended.
Officially, Beijing says that the blacklisted companies failed to renew their export registration, and can only sell their products until the end of August 2022.
However, the late night announcement, and the fact that only Taiwanese exporters are required to file their registration documents by June 2022, instead of June 2023 like exporters from other countries; strongly suggest that this move was motivated by Pelosi’s visit.
China May Ban Taiwan Food Over Pelosi, But Not Chips!
Despite the dramatic late night announcement, this move was relatively benign as the banned exports only make up 0.1% or US$650 million of Taiwan’s total exports.
Last year, Taiwan exported US$44 million worth of pastries to China, but that fell to only US$10 million during the first half of 2022.
Seafood exports to China were more substantial at US$280 million, but tea exports were just under US$32 million, and honey exports was a minuscule US$35,000.
On the other hand, China does not dare to ban the import of Taiwanese microchips or electronics, because it has grown reliant on them.
After the US imposed sanctions on Chinese chipmakers in 2018, China increased imports of Taiwanese memory chips by a whopping 57% in just 3 years!
In fact, Taiwanese exports to China surged by 24.8% to an all-time high of US$188.9 billion in 2021, largely due to high demand for their computer chips.
No matter what their Wolf Warriors may threaten, China is still too reliant on Taiwan for high-end semiconductors to really threaten its supply, and it is not ready to invade Taiwan with a realistic chance of success.
By targeting only a small portion of relatively inconsequential Taiwanese imports, China is just slapping Taiwan on the wrist.
The Taiwanese should play along and moan like they have been mortally wounded to give China some face, so it can (gracefully) retreat from the uncomfortable corner it back itself into.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did China successfully fabricate 7nm chips, despite US sanctions on advanced chip manufacturing technology?
Well, yes, but not quite. Here is what you need to know about China’s mysterious 7nm chips!
China Made 7nm Chips In Spite Of US Sanctions!
A TechInsights report recently concluded that China has successfully created 7nm chips since last year.
This caused quite a ruckus, because it essentially meant that China jumped two generations ahead in chip manufacturing technology!
The TechInsights team bought a MinerVa mining ASIC which used a custom chip that has been manufactured by China’s SMIC since July 2021.
When they examined the chip, they discovered that it was fabricated on a 7nm process that appears to be a “close copy” of a 7nm process used by TSMC – the Taiwanese foundry giant.
The MinerVa chip is small – at just 19.3 mm², with 120 chips populating the MinerVa board. Each mining ASIC has 3 of these boards, for a total of 360 chips and a total power consumption of 3300 watts.
This discovery is deeply concerning to many people, because it meant that China has more advanced chip manufacturing technology than is even available in the United States or EU.
After all, US sanctioned the sale of advanced chip manufacturing technology to China – which was meant to crippled China’s ability to manufacture such chips.
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer used this report to stress the danger of delaying the $50 billion subsidy package for semiconductor manufacturing in the United States.
Members of both sides know that America’s chips crisis is sending shock waves across the economy.
It is endangering our national security. […] China’s top chips maker has now likely advanced its tech by two generations, threatening U.S. competitiveness.
But the situation really isn’t as dire as many people make it out to be…
SMIC / China Barely Made Those 7nm Chips
After the report was released, the Internet fell into two main camps – American politicians and China hawks bemoaning the “loss” of Western chip making advantage, and pro-CCP netizens celebrating it.
First, let me start by congratulating China / SMIC on achieving this feat despite being hobbled by US sanctions on crucial chipmaking technology.
Whether China / SMIC “copied / stole / bought” the technology knowhow from TSMC whose 7nm process it closely resembles, it is still a remarkable achievement.
That said, SMIC / China barely made those 7nm chips, and here are the reasons why…
SMIC manufactured these 7nm chips using older Deep Ultraviolet Lithography (DUV) machines, instead of the state-of-art Extreme Ultraviolet Light (EUV) lithography machines made by Dutch company ASML.
This isn’t extraordinary in itself – TSMC and Samsung had much earlier developed 7nm process nodes using the older DUV machines. However, this comes at the cost of “increased process complexity and design rule restrictions“.
That is likely why the MinerVa chip is not only very small, it actually lacks SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) that is critical in processors that run our computers and smartphones.
The simpler design and small size allow SMIC to obtain sufficient workable chips, even with a poor yield. However, the cost of chip would be much higher than if it was manufactured on a higher-quality process.
So for all intents and purposes – this should be considered as a niche / prototype 7nm process, and not a true 7nm process node.
On top of that, SMIC apparently isn’t capable of producing large quantities of these 7nm chips, suggesting either a yield problem, or difficulty in scaling up.
MinerVa has not been able to deliver the mining ASICs based on these SMIC 7nm chips in large numbers. A Bitcoin mining company – Stronghold Digital Mining, for example, said that it ordered 15,000 miners from MinerVa but only received about 3,200 units as of March 2022.
For China / SMIC to present a true “threat” as far as chipmaking is concerned, it would have to be capable of manufacturing MILLIONS of chips, not thousands.
Regardless of whether the Americans are howling in despair, or the pro-CCP netizens are howling in delight, China really does not have true 7nm chipmaking capability for mass production yet.
And even if they somehow manage to improve and scale up this 7nm DUV process, they cannot make more advanced chips without EUV machines made by ASML.
As long as the Dutch government holds firm on blocking sale of ASML’s EUV machines to China, this is likely as far as they can go… unless they invade Taiwan, which is where TSMC is based and has the world’s most advanced chip manufacturing facilities.
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Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Chipmakers worldwide are bracing for a noble gas shortage, after Russia cut supplies! Here is what you need to know…
Chipmakers Brace For Noble Gas Shortage, After Russia Cut Supply!
On June 2, 2022, the Russian government issued a decree stating that export of noble gases will be subject to Moscow’s approval until December 31, based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
This effectively cuts or limits the export of critical noble gases to “unfriendly” countries, and was a direct response to the fifth round of sanctions imposed by the European Union in April.
Russia and Ukraine were leading producers of noble gases since the days of the Soviet Union, and jointly supplied about 30% of the chipmaking industry’s supply of neon gas.
Both countries were closely intertwined in their noble gas supply to the world. Russia produced raw neon gas as a byproduct of its steelworks, and sent it to Ukraine for purification. That ceased with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
How Badly Will Russia Noble Gas Cut Affect Chipmakers?
Noble gases like neon, argon, xenon and helium are critical in the production of microelectronics that power everything from computers to smartphones and cars.
Neon, in particular, plays a critical role in the optical lithographic process used to etch patterns on silicon wafers, creating circuits in semiconductor chips.
The state-of-the-art excimer pulsed laser used to create semiconductors, for example, requires an argon-fluorine-neon mixture, up to 95% of which is made up of exceptionally pure neon gas.
That’s why about 70% of the world’s supply of neon gas (about 540,000 tonnes) is used by the semiconductor industry.
Fortunately, Russia’s decision to cut noble gas supplies may have less impact that they assumed, because chipmakers prepared for such an eventuality.
The semiconductor industry used to rely on Ukraine and Russia for about 80% to 90% of their neon gas supply, but they started diversifying their noble gas supplies after Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014.
Over the last 7-8 years, they managed to cut down their dependence on Ukraine and Russia to about 30%. And the industry generally maintains gas reserves that would last 3-6 months.
China is the main beneficiary of reduced noble gas supply from Russia. Since the war started, Chinese noble gas producers said that their daily order enquiries have jumped 5X to 6X.
For now, the semiconductor industry does not need to reduce production, but the reduced market supply will mean noble gas prices will remain elevated for some time to come.
Needless to say – this will increase the cost of semiconductors, the cost of which will be passed onto consumers.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.