Intel tested chipmaking equipment this year from a supplier with strong ties to China and two overseas affiliates previously hit by U.S. sanctions, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The tools came from ACM Research, a Fremont, California-based manufacturer, as Intel faced pressure in August when President Donald Trump urged the resignation of its CEO over alleged links to China.
National Security Concerns
Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving U.S. technology over claims they have supported the Chinese government’s efforts at harnessing commercial technology for military use and making advanced chips or chipmaking tools.
The two so-called wet etch tools, used for removing material from the silicon wafers that are transformed into semiconductors, were tested for possible use in Intel’s most advanced chipmaking process, known as 14A. That process is due for an initial launch in 2027.
ACM said it could not comment on “specific customer engagements,” but can confirm that “ACMR’s U.S. team has sold and delivered multiple tools from our Asian operations to domestic customers.” It also said it has disclosed the shipment of three tools to a “major U.S.-based semiconductor manufacturer,” which are being tested and some of which have met performance standards.
Intel’s use of tools from a firm with sanctioned units raises national security concerns, with critics warning of risks including technology transfer to China, displacement of Western suppliers, and potential sabotage.
Geopolitical and Industry Pushback
Faced with Beijing’s imposition of export controls on rare earth minerals, U.S. President Donald Trump has backed off most hard-line policies on chip exports to China and on Monday gave the green light for Nvidia to sell its second most advanced AI chips in China.
As Chinese toolmakers expand globally, U.S. lawmakers reintroduced a bill to bar subsidized chipmakers from using Chinese equipment.
Intel’s testing of ACM tools “highlights egregious gaps in U.S. technology protection policies and should not be permitted,” said Chris McGuire, a former White House National Security Council official under President Joe Biden and Senior Fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, in response to Reuters’ findings.
ACM said it does not pose a national security threat, noting that its U.S. operations are “bifurcated and isolated” from the sanctioned Shanghai-based unit, and that U.S. customers are supported directly by U.S. personnel, with robust safeguards to protect customer trade secrets.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not address the specific concerns cited by China hawks but said “Normal trade and economic cooperation between companies should not be politicized. We urge certain individuals in the U.S. to abandon ideological biases and stop generalizing the concept of national security.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
