Caught Red Handed: Applied Materials Allegedly Illegally Exporting Tech to China

For years China Tech Threat has warned that U.S. export controls have been insufficient to stop the transfer of American technology to the Chinese military. In our August 2023 report, Cash Over County, we explained how American semiconductor equipment manufacturers Applied Materials, KLA, and Lam Research grew their combined revenues from China by 103% between 2018 and 2022—strengthening the Chinese military and intelligence apparatuses in the process. Apparently, the greed infecting at least one of these companies is worse than we thought. Reuters reports that the Justice Department is investigating Applied Materials for allegedly selling hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of equipment to China in violation of U.S. export controls. The alleged infractions took place in 2021 and 2022,… Read More

China Inches Closer to Legacy Chip Dominance – Will the U.S. Government Act Fast and Strong Enough? 

A collection of recent headlines reinforces what China Tech Threat has been warning about for months – that the world is increasingly at risk of relying on China for its legacy semiconductor needs. The news tells the story of China’s march to obtain total self-sufficiency in semiconductors. This month the world saw Huawei unveil a phone with a 7nm chip made by SMIC – a technological breakthrough that caught many by surprise. CNBC reports that revenue from China’s top chip equipment makers surged in the first half of the year. And Arrian Ebrahmi notes in The Diplomat that China is boosting the country’s tax credit for investments in semiconductor research and development by 20% – further incentivizing Chinese firms to… Read More