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Huawei tells customers to source AI chip memory on their own, pushing them to black market

Huawei is instructing customers to independently procure high-performance memory for its AI chips, effectively driving them to the black market due to U.S. export restrictions. Smugglers exploit a loophole by bundling HBM with low-end processors, shipping through Hong Kong, and separating the chips on site. Prices for smuggled HBM3E memory have surged to around $4,000 per unit in the past year.

AI Brief

Reveals a concrete, recent development in AI hardware supply chains under export controls, with direct implications for industry and geopolitics.

An investigation by the New York Times shows that despite US export restrictions, there is a lively trade in advanced AI chips in China. Dozens of suppliers in Shenzhen are doing business worth over 100 million dollars in some cases.

Huawei is telling customers to source the high-performance memory for its AI chips on their own, pushing them onto the black market. Smugglers are exploiting a loophole in U.S. export rules by bundling HBM with low-end processors, shipping them through Hong Kong, and separating the chips on site. Prices for smuggled HBM3E memory have surged to around $4,000 per unit in just one year.

The article Huawei tells customers to find their own AI chip memory, effectively outsourcing procurement to the black market appeared first on The Decoder.

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