Chinese semiconductor thread II

[tokenanalyst]

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. filed lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Commerce on the same day.​

Flash memory chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense, challenging its decision to add the company to the Entity List of "Chinese military enterprises".

The lawsuit, filed on December 5 in a federal court in Washington, D.C., seeks to block the enforcement of the list and overturn the designation. The Pentagon added Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. to its list of "Chinese military companies" operating in the United States in January 2024 and reaffirmed that designation earlier this year.

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) develops advanced flash memory technology for consumer electronics such as laptops and mobile phones. In its lawsuit against the Pentagon, YMTC stated that it has no affiliation with the Chinese military or defense department.

On December 5, Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) also filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce, challenging its inclusion in another list of entities restricted from accessing U.S. technology in 2022. YMTC insists that it has a robust export compliance system and states that the U.S. Department of Commerce has never accused it of violating U.S. export control laws.
The lawsuit alleges that the U.S. Department of Defense relied on outdated and inaccurate information to conclude that Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) was affiliated with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The lawsuit claims that this finding has caused "significant and ongoing financial and reputational damage," including business losses with U.S. partners.

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) stated that its products are commercial-grade and do not meet military specifications. The company claims it has never provided any technology or products to the military.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

 

[Phead128]

Industrial electricity prices in China is 55% cheaper than US on a cost per KWh basis, and acquisition cost of Huawei GPUs is 20-60% cheaper than Nvidia on a cost per performance basis.

5nm/7nm nodes + cheaper electricity + additional state subsidies or imported/smuggled 3nm Nvidia chips is more than sufficient for China's AI applications needs for the foreseeable future while domestic EUV ramps up. This is the misguided folly of "annihilation-ists" who failed and now shift the goalpost to "at what costs?-ist" as if they going to bankrupt China on spending more on chips and cooling electricity cost... (roll eye).

 

[tokenanalyst]

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. filed lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Commerce on the same day.​

Flash memory chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense, challenging its decision to add the company to the Entity List of "Chinese military enterprises".

The lawsuit, filed on December 5 in a federal court in Washington, D.C., seeks to block the enforcement of the list and overturn the designation. The Pentagon added Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. to its list of "Chinese military companies" operating in the United States in January 2024 and reaffirmed that designation earlier this year.

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) develops advanced flash memory technology for consumer electronics such as laptops and mobile phones. In its lawsuit against the Pentagon, YMTC stated that it has no affiliation with the Chinese military or defense department.

On December 5, Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) also filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce, challenging its inclusion in another list of entities restricted from accessing U.S. technology in 2022. YMTC insists that it has a robust export compliance system and states that the U.S. Department of Commerce has never accused it of violating U.S. export control laws.
The lawsuit alleges that the U.S. Department of Defense relied on outdated and inaccurate information to conclude that Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) was affiliated with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The lawsuit claims that this finding has caused "significant and ongoing financial and reputational damage," including business losses with U.S. partners.

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) stated that its products are commercial-grade and do not meet military specifications. The company claims it has never provided any technology or products to the military.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

YMTC: We never violated any export control law.
Clowns at the Department of Commerce: You are still alive.

 

[FriedButter]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

China adds domestic AI chips to official procurement list for first time​

China has put domestic artificial intelligence chips on an official procurement list for the first time, bolstering the nation’s tech sector ahead of US President Donald Trump’s move to allow Nvidia exports to the country.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently added AI processors from Chinese groups including Huawei and Cambricon to its government-approved list of suppliers, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The step was designed to enhance the use of domestic semiconductors in China’s public sector and could be worth billions of dollars in new sales to local chipmakers.

That move came before Trump announced on Monday he was lifting US export controls and allowing Nvidia to ship its advanced H200 chips to “approved customers in China”. However, those sales could still be hampered by opposition from some Washington lawmakers and Chinese authorities.

China’s new procurement list has not yet been made public, but several government agencies and state-owned companies have already received the guidance document, said those familiar with the matter. While they have previously been urged to support local chipmakers, it is the first time public sector groups have received written instructions.

The move is a sign of Beijing’s determination to wean the country from relying on American technology and bolster its homegrown semiconductor industry in the AI race against the US.

The Information Technology Innovation List — known as Xinchuang in Chinese — serves as guidelines for government agencies, public institutions and state-owned companies that spend billions every year procuring IT products.

The list forms part of Beijing’s strategy to reduce China’s reliance on foreign products following Washington’s export controls.

Domestic microprocessors to replace those made by AMD and Intel, as well as operating systems to substitute Microsoft’s Windows, have been added to the list in the past few years.

This has led to the gradual phasing out of foreign technology products in China’s public institutions such as government offices, schools and hospitals, as well as state-owned companies.

The move also shows confidence that domestic AI chips have reached a performance level to replace their US counterparts, following a concerted push by Beijing to focus resources on the sector over the past few years.

China recently increased subsidies that cut energy bills by up to half for some of the country’s largest data centres, in a bid to help tech giants such as Alibaba and Tencent with the higher electricity costs of using less efficient domestic semiconductors.

The push to replace Nvidia’s technology with domestic counterparts has faced some resistance from companies.

An executive from a state-owned financial institute said that while they have allocated Rmb100mn ($14mn) to buy domestic AI chips from the list this year, most of these purchased Chinese processors the group has acquired are now sitting idle.

His firm’s quantitative trading models were built based on Nvidia’s hardware, and a switch to Huawei’s processors will result in a significant amount of adaptation work, including rewriting code in a language they are not familiar with.

Such reluctance to shift to a new architecture is common in a transition phase, according to one Chinese policymaker, who added that the country needed to gain greater technological independence. “The growing pains are unavoidable,” they said. “But we have to get there.”

The MIIT did not respond to requests for comment.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently added AI processors from Chinese groups including Huawei and Cambricon to its government-approved list of suppliers, according to two people familiar with the matter.

 

[Maikeru]

CloudMatrix384 being as good as NVL72 and millions of Ascend 910C in 2026 were the reasons for ending the ban on H200, according to this report:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1998554283579682823

 

[Randomuser]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Chinese chipmaker Hygon calls off merger with top shareholder​

Shares fall as companies blame 'market environment' for change of plan

SHANGHAI -- Chinese chipmaker Hygon Information Technology is abandoning its plans to merge with its top shareholder and server maker Dawning Information Industry, known as Sugon.

The merger, initially

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

, involved Hygon absorbing Sugon through a share swap. While Sugon owns about 28% of Hygon's shares, Hygon's market capitalization is much larger than Sugon's, which is backed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. A combination would have marked one of the biggest M&A deals in China's chip sector this year.

"Since the commencement of this transaction, the company and relevant parties have actively advanced various aspects of the transaction," Hygon said in an announcement late on Tuesday. "However, because the transaction is large in scale and involves many related parties, the demonstration and evaluation of the major asset restructuring plan has taken an extended period of time."

"Currently, the market environment has changed significantly since the initial planning of this transaction, and the conditions for implementing this major asset restructuring are not yet mature," the company added.

Shares of Hygon opened 3.3% lower on Wednesday morning. Sugon fell by the daily limit of 10%.

China is racing to develop a homegrown semiconductor supply chain and reduce its dependence on U.S. technologies. Consolidation remains a key challenge for the sector as companies struggle with scale and profitability due to intense competition at home.

There were 3,901 chip design firms in China this year, according to local media reports. Wei Shaojun, vice chairman of the Chinese Semiconductor Industry Association, reportedly said at a conference last month that the key to solving "involution," a term that refers to excessive competition, is to let market forces drive consolidation.

"We should recognize that the main reason for [involution's] persistence lies within ourselves," Wei was quoted as saying.

Hygon makes central processing units (CPUs) used in servers, competing with the likes of Huawei Technologies in China. Sugon makes servers and related equipment. The merger would have combined the two companies' financial resources and talent, potentially helping them speed up research and development.