Bitmain-affiliated AI company Sophgo: No business relationship with Huawei, has provided TSMC with a detailed investigation report

Sophgo, an artificial intelligence company associated with Bitmain, said in a written statement that it has never had any direct or indirect business relationship with Huawei, but did not deny reports that TSMC had cut off its chip supply. In addition, the company said that it had "provided a detailed investigation report to TSMC to prove that the company had nothing to do with the Huawei investigation." Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Commerce launched an investigation into TSMC earlier this month to confirm whether it provided chips to Huawei, and TSMC subsequently stopped supplying chips to Sophgo, an artificial intelligence company associated with Bitmain. Two people familiar with the matter said that TSMC has cut off the supply of chips to related companies. Since 2020, Huawei has been banned from purchasing chips made using U.S. technology, including chips produced by TSMC. TSMC said it used U.S. technology in the chip manufacturing process and said it would comply with U.S. laws. Earlier news said that semiconductor research company TechInsights claimed that after dismantling Huawei's current most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator chip Ascend 910B, it was found that this chip may be manufactured by TSMC, which also means that TSMC may have violated US export controls.