China’s major decision: This semiconductor-related company has been blacklisted.

China has blacklisted TechInsights, a Canadian semiconductor research company. This is the same company that recently released a detailed report on Huawei’s new artificial intelligence (AI) chips, revealing the use of numerous foreign components. China’s Ministry of Commerce has cited national security concerns in declaring it an “unreliable entity.” This decision could further reduce transparency in China’s chip sector and has sparked a new controversy over tech surveillance.

TechInsights is a company that provides an information platform for the semiconductor industry. It provides in-depth, actionable intelligence related to semiconductors, covering semiconductor innovation and surrounding markets. TechInsights primarily analyzes semiconductor chips and technologies through reverse engineering.

China’s Big Move and the Reason

Beijing announced on Thursday that TechInsights will no longer be able to share data or information with any Chinese organization or individual. Citing national security concerns, China has placed the company on its “unreliable entity” list. This move comes after TechInsights released an analysis of Huawei’s latest AI chips, which showed that some chip components were sourced outside China.

After the Huawei Report

TechInsights recently released a review of Huawei’s “Ascend” AI chip. It revealed that the chip included components from foreign companies like Samsung and Taiwan’s TSMC.