In the ongoing technological rivalry between the United States and China, the battle for supremacy in chip technology has become a key focal point. The production of advanced microchips, vital for both economic and military dominance, has led to intense efforts by Washington to control China's access to crucial microchip design tools.
US President Joe Biden took a rather bold step when he decided to unequivocally sever China’s access to high-end computer chips (aka semiconductors) in October last year. Laws regarding the export of AI technology were also tightened, leading to companies releasing Chinese-specific chips to get around rules.
However, an equally serious challenger has now emerged in the form of SEIDA, a Chinese startup founded by a veteran Silicon Valley software executive.
Liguo "Recoo" Zhang, the CEO of SEIDA, and three other Chinese-born colleagues left Siemens EDA, a U.S. unit of Siemens AG, aiming to break the foreign monopoly on Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) technology, reported Reuters.
The OPC tool is indispensable for designing advanced chips crucial for emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing. SEIDA's bold pitch attracted powerful Chinese investors, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), a leading Chinese microchip maker with alleged ties to China's military.
Evolving business to navigate regulations.
SEIDA's objective to "break through the foreign monopoly" has brought scrutiny from both sides of the Pacific, raising questions about compliance with regulations and the potential for intellectual property infringement.
The company's Chief Operating Officer, Peilun "Allen" Chang, told Reuters in an email that its business plan is continually evolving while revealing that U.S. restrictions were a catalyst for Zhang and his colleagues to leave Siemens EDA, who faced limited business opportunities and scope for career advancement in light of the restrictions.
Furthermore, SEIDA claims to adhere to both U.S. and Chinese rules, emphasizing a stringent vetting process to avoid intellectual property infringement. While it cannot be ascertained at this point if SEIDA is utilizing proprietary knowledge from Siemens EDA or others given the complexity of OPC technology, neither SEIDA nor its executives have been accused of wrongdoing.
China’s chip ambitions.
As the U.S. and China race for dominance in chip technology, the interconnected nature of the industry, spanning raw materials, design, and assembly, presents challenges for Washington to isolate China economically, unlike the Cold War era.
While the U.S. still leads in chip design technologies, manufacturing largely occurs in Asia, particularly South Korea and Taiwan, the "self-governing island claimed by China and the world's leading chip manufacturer," reported Reuters. The recently approved "CHIPS for America" program allocated $53 billion aiming to boost domestic chip production.
China too, has been pushing aggressively for advanced chips through programs like "Thousand Talents" and significant government investments. Experts say that the tale of SEIDA is yet another example of Chinese companies leveraging expertise gained abroad to bolster the domestic industry.
However, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said otherwise, highlighting technological advances in China to be “not the result of theft, nor of robbery,” but “the result of Chinese people’s ingenuity and hard work.”
Originally published on Interesting Engineering : Original article