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Chinese technology giant Huawei said on Monday that it had developed a new approach to semiconductor production that could help it work around restrictions blocking its access to the most advanced chipmaking equipment.
The announcement comes as Huawei remains at the center of a wider technology standoff between China and the United States. Washington has warned that the Chinese government could use Huawei equipment for espionage, an allegation the company denies.
Since 2019, U.S. sanctions have cut off Huawei from key American-made components and technologies, as well as some tools produced by U.S. allies.
One of the most important restrictions involves lithography machines, which are used to print extremely small circuit patterns onto chips. The most advanced version, known as extreme ultraviolet lithography, or EUV, is widely seen as essential for mass-producing chips of five nanometers or below.
Speaking at the International Symposium on Circuits and Systems in Shanghai, He Tingbo, head of Huawei's semiconductor division, said the company could produce next-generation 1.4-nanometer chips by 2031.
That timeline trails Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, which has projected it can reach the same level by 2028.
He said the new method came from changing the way chipmaking is usually understood. The industry has long followed "Moore's Law," a principle named after Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, which says the number of transistors on a chip doubles roughly every two years. Transistors regulate the flow of electricity, and packing more of them into a chip usually makes processors smaller, faster, or both.
He argued that Huawei's new idea, called the "Tau Scaling Law" or "Her's Law," shifts the focus from saving space to cutting down the time it takes for different parts of a chip to communicate.
According to He, U.S. sanctions forced Huawei to face the limits of conventional chipmaking earlier and under more difficult conditions.
"Our solution is feasible and affordable. The performance of the new chip can fully compete with that of the other path," she said.
Huawei said its next Kirin chip, expected to launch in the autumn, will be the first to fully use an architecture called "LogicFolding," which is based on the new principle.
The company framed the development as a way to keep up in the global race for advanced chips, especially as semiconductors have become central to artificial intelligence.
Powerful chips are needed to train and run AI systems, making them one of the most sensitive areas in the technology rivalry between Washington and Beijing.
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George Chen, Partner and Chair of Digital Practice at The Asia Group, said Huawei's new approach showed the company's ambition to move from following global chip leaders to challenging them.
The Tau Scaling Law "underscores the company's ambition to lead rather than follow in the global chip race," Chen said.
"Even without a new product launch today, Huawei's intent is clear, and its trajectory will likely heighten U.S. concerns."
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