US withdrew licenses from Qualcomm and Intel to prevent chips from being shipped to Huawei

The United States of America (USA) is not giving China a break, especially its companies. Now, anonymous sources have reported that the country has revoked the licenses that allowed the shipment of chips to Huawei granted to Qualcomm and Intel.

American decisions have not benefited Huawei, which is therefore moving towards independence from US components and technologies. There has already been a lot of water between the country and the Chinese brand, with Huawei being, once again, harmed.

As recalled by the press, before Huawei managed to obtain SMIC's 7nm Kirin 9000s 5G processors for last year's Mate 60 line, the last 5G chips it used in a major smartphone were the Kirin 9000 SoCs that powered the Mate 40 series. 2020.

That year, the US changed export rules so that American technology to manufacture cutting-edge chips would not reach Huawei.

US wants to move Huawei away from AI

However, Qualcomm managed to obtain a license to send versions of its Snapdragon processors to Huawei, adjusted so as not to work with 5G networks. These chips were used to power 2022's P50 and Mate 50 smartphones, and last year's P60. Now the US is taking action.

According to anonymous sources cited by Bloomberg, the US revoked the licenses granted to Qualcomm and Intel that allowed them to sell chips to Huawei. These sources said the move will affect US chip sales to Huawei for its smartphones and laptops.

It is blocking all chips sold to Huawei […] These are two companies that have always worried us about being a little too close to China.

Said Michael McCaul, US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, confirming the revocation of the licenses and revealing that the idea is to prevent China from developing advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Furthermore, the US will be considering the possibility of imposing sanctions on six Chinese companies, over fears that they may be supplying chips to Huawei.

We continually evaluate how our controls can best protect our national security and foreign policy interests.

McCaul said in a recent statement.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm shared that its business with Huawei is weakening and is currently very limited. In fact, the American company hopes to soon not sell any chips to the Chinese company.