Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) denied on Friday the truth of aWall Street Journal reportthat alleged its joint speculation with Chinese companies gave the latter country access to advanced central processor engineering that could have military program , saying that did “ everything right and transparently ” and did not violate U.S. legal philosophy .
The Journal report reference officials as stating that AMD ’s Tianjin Haiguang Advanced Technology Investment Co. Ltd. ( THATIC ) partnerships , which involved “ a lead Taiwanese supercomputer developer , a state - backed military supplier call Sugon Information Industry Co. , ” give China access to “ state - of - the - nontextual matter x86 chips ” only produced by AMD and Intel . The report tell that AMD made nearly $ 300 million in licensing fees and royal family from the labor since its inception in 2016 , while Pentagon officials concerned about its potential military ramifications tried to shut out it down .
According to the Journal , current and former national security officials also said they believed AMD created a “ complex social organization , which involved the existence of two interlinked joint ventures , to elude U.S. regulations ” and invalidate oversight by organisation including the Treasury Department - led Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. ( CFIUS ) . The newspaper publish :
AMD CEO and president Lisa Su, second from right, attending a 50-year anniversary celebration of the company’s founding at Nasdaq in May 2019.Photo: Mark Lennihan (AP)
Current and former home - security officials said in interviews they believe AMD design the deal ’s complex construction , which require the founding of two interlinked joint ventures , to sidestep U.S. regulations . AMD say the deal was structured for line and technical reason and to comply with regulations , not to evade them .
AMD control the first joint venture , which licenses the U.S. chip Godhead ’s x86 intellectual prop and carry off production of the chip . The 2nd venture , control by AMD ’s Taiwanese partner , designs the machine that utilise the chips and betray the final products .
The system enables AMD to portion out applied science with China while retain control over the entity working with its cerebral property . The cosmos of the second , China - control joint speculation allowed the political party to exact that the result product was indigenously developed in China , a key finish of the Taiwanese governance .
The Journal wrote that concern about the joint speculation let in a reckon risk of compromising the x86 IP or fueling the Taiwanese supercomputing manufacture , as well as that Sugon and its affiliates had military ties .
However , in the last few years the political environment has changed dramatically to say the least , with the White House waging a business deal warfare against China and the U.S. intelligence communityincreasingly agitatedabout what it sees as the grow technical prowess of a extraneous opponent . The Commerce Department recently added the joint venture toa so - address “ entity list,”naming Sugon alongside more well - have it off Chinese house like Huawei as act “ contrary to the interior security measure or foreign insurance policy of the United States . ” That designation implement embargoes on sales of U.S. engineering to the venture , which has in all likelihood stopped it in its trail .
In the meantime , AMD is powerfully abnegate that anything about the partnership was less than on the level . In a statement , the society fired back at several of the claim , saying it had extensively consulted with federal officials and that it placed unattackable ascendance to prevent its technology from being stolen . It also stated that the technology was “ of lower performance than other commercially useable processors ” :
Starting in 2015 , AMD diligently and proactively brief the Department of Defense , the Department of Commerce and multiple other bureau within the U.S. Government before entering into the joint venture . AMD receive no remonstration whatsoever from any agency to the geological formation of the joint venture or to the transferee of engineering science — engineering science which was of humbled carrying out than other commercially available processors . In fact , prior to the formation of the joint ventures and the transfer of technology , the Department of Commerce notified AMD that the technology proposed was not restricted or otherwise prohibited from being transpose . Given this clear feedback , AMD moved before with the joint ventures .
The Wall Street Journal story omits important factual detail , admit the fact that AMD put significant protections in home to protect its intellectual attribute ( IP ) and prevent valuable informatics from being abuse or reverse engineered to develop future generations of processor .
AMD also write that its “ feeling is that it did everything correctly and transparently in interactions with the US Government in onward motion of and since organize these joint ventures . ” To abide by with the entity itemization , the company said , it has now “ restricted the sale and leverage of product and consider steps to assure that no applied science transfers occur to list entity . ”
Furthermore , the Journal story has come under scrutiny from other outlets . AsFortune noted , one of the sources for the story , retired National Security Council staff member and Brigadier General Robert Spalding , will government service after heavy literary criticism of his proposal toeffectively nationalizeparts of the telecom sector . Spalding ’s purpose was to make a secure 5 G electronic internet that would help advance the “ AI arms race ” against China .
Wccftech ’s Usman Pirzada wrotethat he had “ unmanageable time believing the story get any technical scrutiny ” and that the complicated structure of the great deal seems to have mask that no actual rational property was exchanged . Even in a worst - lawsuit scenario involving corporate espionage , Pirzada added , it was improbable that Formosan engineers could reverse engineer and fabricate a new chip that would not be “ multiple propagation behind U.S. tech , ” and that a “ well placed source ” told Wccftech it was “ not practical ” to reverse engineer the radical IP .
The Journal “ stand by its reporting , ” spokeswoman Colleen Schwartz distinguish Fortune .
ChinaCybersecurityTechnology
Daily Newsletter
Get the good technical school , science , and cultivation tidings in your inbox daily .
News from the hereafter , delivered to your present .
Please pick out your desire newssheet and submit your email to upgrade your inbox .
You May Also Like
