- China has added TechInsights to its Unreliable Entity list, barring it from doing business with organizations or individuals in China.
- TechInsights has helped expose the inner workings of Huawei Technologies Co.’s AI chips and its reliance on foreign chips.
- The Ministry of Commerce stated that TechInsights and other entities have engaged in activities that defy China’s objections, including so-called military-technical cooperation with Taiwan.
China has added prominent research firm TechInsights to its Unreliable Entity list, shutting out the Canadian teardown specialist that helped expose the inner workings of Huawei Technologies Co.’s AI chips.
TechInsights will be barred from doing business with organizations or individuals in China, alongside a raft of other companies including some drone providers, according to a Ministry of Commerce statement on Thursday.
The Canadian company has played a key role since 2023 in uncovering some of Huawei’s most closely guarded technological secrets, while also exposing its reliance on foreign chips despite years of effort to replace American circuitry. Known for its detailed breakdowns that identify the parts of electronic products, it was first to reveal a number of undisclosed suppliers and components in Chinese hardware. Two years ago, a Bloomberg investigation in partnership with TechInsights found Huawei had developed a made-in-China smartphone processor that could compete with the likes of Qualcomm Inc. and Apple Inc.
TechInsights also confirmed the presence of restricted Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. chips in Huawei devices, helping shed light on how the Chinese firm used a third party to circumvent US sanctions and get the components it needed. And last week, the company was able to establish that key parts from TSMC, Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. were present in Huawei’s most advanced AI semiconductors.
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TechInsights declined to comment. Its Japanese, Korean and European entities, along with subsidiary Strategy Analytics, were all placed on the entity list. London-based BAE Systems Plc., one of the major names associated with Europe’s defense industry upgrades in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is the most notable other company among the latest set of additions