Huawei is causing a lot of trouble in the United States with the use of the very advanced 7 nanometer chip. In Washington, the time has come to minimize the technological progress of the Chinese giant.
After being excluded from many telecommunications networks around the world and blacklisted in the United States, Huawei continues to scare people. The Shenzhen firm, which uses a 7 nm (nanometer) chip for its Mate 60 Pro smartphone, has made a considerable leap forward technologically, thanks to this new chip. In Washington, people are trying to minimize its impact, saying that the microprocessor would not be as advanced as American chips.
Washington and Beijing, a technological cold war set to last
The chip embedded in Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro mobile phone, called “Kirin 9000s”, is 100% Chinese. It is used by the smartphone manufacturer, and is manufactured by SMIC (Semiconductor International Manufacturing Corp), which, unsurprisingly, is one of the companies now banned from American soil.
On the United States side precisely, we reacted this weekend, through the Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, who declared on Sunday April 21, 2024 that the microprocessor is not as advanced as American chips.
Recognizing that the chip constitutes a technological advance would be total nonsense for Washington, which has continued, since 2019, to prevent the Middle Kingdom from manufacturing semiconductors, and to prevent the exploitation of all American technology advanced in China, which fuels the cold war between the two behemoths, even if the USA still says it wants to trade with Beijing on the majority of goods and services.
For the United States, the chip used by Huawei is not that advanced
“ Export controls work, because this chip isn’t as good » replied Gina Raimondo to an American journalist, Lesley Stahl, before being asked to clarify her point. “ We are talking here about several years behind what we have in the United States. “, she then added, referring to having “the the most sophisticated semiconductors in the world “. According to the manager, “ this is not the case for China “.
But isn’t Gina Raimondo distorting reality a little? Continuing the interview, Lesley Stahl teased the Secretary of State: “ When you say “we”, are you talking about Taiwan? “, she told him. “ That’s it », then agreed Ms. Raimondo, recognizing that the chips manufactured in Taiwan, which fears an invasion by China, were essential to the future of American military armament.
Source : CBS News
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