For four years, American export controls had quietly reshaped the fortunes of one of China's most ambitious technology companies — until a disassembled smartphone revealed something that Washington had not anticipated. The discovery of an advanced 5G processor inside Huawei's new Mate 60 Pro has prompted the White House to ask a question with consequences far beyond any single device: not merely how the chip was made, but whether the architecture of technological containment itself remains sound. In the long contest between restriction and ingenuity, the outcome of this investigation may say a
US launches investigation into Huawei's advanced 5G chip amid export restrictions
A company banned from working with Huawei appeared to have built the chip
Mark
So the US banned Huawei from getting advanced chips, and now Huawei has an advanced chip. How did that happen?
Mimi
That's what Washington is trying to figure out. The Mate 60 Pro appears to have a 5G processor made by a Chinese company called SMIC, which is also under US restrictions. Either Huawei found a way to work with SMIC anyway, or there's something else going on.
Luke
But we don't actually know yet, right? Sullivan said they need more information. This is still an investigation.
Mimi
Right. The chip was only discovered after the phone launched. Huawei didn't advertise what was inside it.
Mark
Why would they hide that?
Mimi
Maybe because they knew it would raise questions. Or maybe they were being cautious about what they disclosed publicly.
Luke
The other thing is—even if the chip got made, how did Huawei get all the other parts? Power amps, filters, switches. Those are restricted too, in many cases.
Mimi
That's the real mystery. The chip is one thing. Building an entire 5G phone is another.
Mark
So the restrictions might not be as tight as people thought?
Luke
Or they might have been bypassed. Or there might be loopholes. We just don't know yet.
Le Pouls
- A routine product teardown became a geopolitical event when analysts found a cutting-edge 5G chip inside Huawei's Mate 60 Pro — a chip that, by Washington's reckoning, should not exist.
- National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was forced to publicly acknowledge the discovery, signaling that the White House had been caught off guard by a company it had spent four years trying to sideline.
- The chip appears to have been manufactured by SMIC, a Chinese firm that is itself under US export restrictions, raising the unsettling possibility that two banned entities collaborated to outmaneuver American controls.
- Analysts note that a single chip, however impressive, is only part of the story — the sourcing of dozens of other restricted 5G components remains unexplained and deepens the mystery.
- The Biden administration insists its 'small yard, high fence' strategy remains intact, but the investigation it has now launched is really a test of whether that fence was ever as tall as it appeared.
For four years, American export controls had quietly reshaped the fortunes of one of China's most ambitious technology companies — until a disassembled smartphone revealed something that Washington had not anticipated. The discovery of an advanced 5G processor inside Huawei's new Mate 60 Pro has prompted the White House to ask a question with consequences far beyond any single device: not merely how the chip was made, but whether the architecture of technological containment itself remains sound. In the long contest between restriction and ingenuity, the outcome of this investigation may say as much about the limits of policy as it does about the capabilities of Chinese industry.
When Huawei quietly released the Mate 60 Pro in late August, the company offered almost no technical details — only vague promises of better connectivity. Within days, industry analysts had opened the device and found something that alarmed Washington: a custom 5G processor called the Kirin 9000s, apparently built by a Chinese chipmaker the United States had explicitly barred from doing business with Huawei.
The discovery was jarring because it seemed to contradict four years of deliberate policy. Since 2019, the US had constructed an elaborate web of export controls designed to cut Huawei off from advanced semiconductor technology — barring American firms from supplying it, and pressuring international chipmakers using American tools to follow suit. Huawei's smartphone business had visibly suffered. Then, without announcement, the company appeared to have found a way through.
At a White House briefing, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration needed to understand the chip's origins before drawing conclusions — but the implications were already clear. If the controls had been circumvented, it would call into question the effectiveness of America's broader technology containment strategy.
Analysts at TechInsights identified the processor as a 7-nanometer chip likely produced by SMIC, China's leading semiconductor manufacturer and itself a restricted entity. The irony was difficult to ignore: a company forbidden from supplying Huawei appeared to have built the component that could return Huawei to global competitiveness.
Market researcher David McQueen noted that the reaction inside China had been one of pride and excitement — Huawei recast as a symbol of domestic resilience. But he also raised a question no one had answered: a 5G smartphone requires far more than one chip. Power amplifiers, filters, switches — many of these components carry their own restrictions. How Huawei assembled the full picture remains unknown.
Sullivan signaled that the US would not abandon its 'small yard, high fence' approach regardless of what the investigation uncovered. But the fence, it seemed, was now the subject of the investigation itself.
When Huawei announced the Mate 60 Pro smartphone late in August, the company said little about what powered it. The product page mentioned only that the device would deliver better communication and a more stable network. But within days, industry analysts had taken the phone apart and found something that caught the attention of the White House: a custom-built 5G processor called the Kirin 9000s, apparently manufactured by a Chinese semiconductor company that the United States had explicitly forbidden to do business with Huawei.
The discovery set off alarm bells in Washington. Since 2019, the US government had worked methodically to cut off Huawei's access to advanced chip technology. The restrictions barred American companies from selling software and equipment to the Chinese manufacturer and prevented international chipmakers using American-made tools from partnering with Huawei. The stated rationale centered on national security—the risk of cyberattacks or espionage conducted through compromised hardware. For four years, those restrictions had held. Huawei's smartphone business had withered. And then, suddenly, the company appeared to have solved the problem on its own.
On Tuesday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan addressed the situation at a White House briefing. The United States needed to understand more about the chip's design and composition, he said, to determine whether someone had found a way around the export controls. The question was not academic. If Huawei had managed to develop advanced 5G technology despite the restrictions, it would suggest either that the controls were less effective than intended or that they had been circumvented.
Analysts were equally puzzled. TechInsights, a consultant firm that had examined the Mate 60 Pro's internals, determined that the Kirin 9000s appeared to be a 7-nanometer processor made by China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, or SMIC. That company was itself subject to American export restrictions, having been added to the list years earlier. The irony was stark: a company banned from working with Huawei appeared to have built the chip that would restore Huawei to the smartphone market.
David McQueen, a director at market research firm ABI Research, told CNN that the reaction in China had been one of genuine excitement. Huawei, which had once competed to be the world's leading smartphone maker, was now seen as fighting its way back into the market with domestically manufactured silicon. The company had leaned hard into a "Made in China" narrative. But McQueen raised a practical question that no one had yet answered: even if Huawei could manufacture a 5G chip, how had it sourced all the other components necessary to build a 5G smartphone? Power amplifiers, switches, filters—these were specialized parts, many of them subject to their own restrictions. The chip was one piece of a much larger puzzle.
Huawei did not respond to requests for comment about how the phone had come together. Sullivan, for his part, signaled that the administration would not be abandoning its approach. The United States would continue with what he called a "small yard, high fence" strategy—narrowly focused technology restrictions aimed at genuine national security threats, regardless of what investigators found about the Mate 60 Pro. The question now was whether that fence had held, or whether it had been breached.
Citations marquantes
The US needs more information about precisely the chip's character and composition to determine if parties bypassed American restrictions on semiconductor exports— National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan
The reaction in China seems to be one of mass excitement because Huawei is seen to be fighting its way back into the smartphone market with Chinese-made silicon— David McQueen, ABI Research
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