Huawei Used TSMC, Samsung, SK Hynix Components in Top AI Chips

Huawei Technologies Co. used advanced components from Asia’s largest technology firms in at least some of its leading Ascend AI processors, a research firm discovered during teardowns, highlighting China’s reliance on foreign hardware as it works to boost domestic production of AI semiconductors.

TechInsights discovered gear from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. in multiple samples of Huawei’s third-generation Ascend 910C chips, the firm said in a statement.

In an investigation, the Ottawa-based researchers concluded that TSMC manufactured the dies used in the Huawei accelerators. They also uncovered an older-generation type of high-bandwidth memory, ...