Republican ire at Intel AI chip in Huawei laptop

Washington — Republican US legislators on Friday criticised the Biden administration after sanctioned Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel AI chip.

The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for violating Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain licence before shipping to it.

One such licence, issued by the Trump administration, allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners had urged the Biden administration to revoke that licence, but many grudgingly accepted that it would expire later this year and not be renewed.

Huawei’s unveiling on Thursday of its first AI-enabled laptop, the MateBook X Pro powered by Intel’s new Core Ultra 9 processor, shocked and angered them as they took it to mean the commerce department had approved shipments of the new chip to Huawei.

“One of the greatest mysteries in Washington, DC, is why the department of commerce continues to allow US technology to be shipped to Huawei,” said Republican Congressman Michael Gallagher, who chairs the House of Representatives select committee on China.

An informed source said the chips were shipped under a pre-existing licence. They are not covered by recent broad-cased restrictions on AI chip shipments to China, said the source and another person.

The commerce department and Intel declined to comment. Huawei did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The reaction is a sign of growing pressure on the Biden administration to do more to thwart Huawei’s rise, nearly five years after it was added to a trade restriction list.

The group caused surprise in August with a new phone powered by a sophisticated chip manufactured by sanctioned Chinese chipmaker SMIC, becoming a symbol of China’s technological resurgence despite Washington’s ongoing efforts to cripple its capacity to produce advanced semiconductors.

At a senate subcommittee hearing last week, Kevin Kurland, an export enforcement official, said Washington’s restrictions on Huawei have had a “significant impact” on its access to US technology. He said that the goal was not necessarily to stop Huawei growing but to keep it from misusing US technology for “malign activities”.

But the remarks did little to stem frustration among Republican China hawks after the news about Huawei’s new laptop.

“These approvals must stop,” said Republican Congressman Michael McCaul. “Two years ago, I was told licences to Huawei would stop. Today, it doesn’t seem as though the policy has changed.”

Reuters