Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the maker of most of the world’s cutting-edge computer chips, discovered last month that one of its chips had ended up precisely where policymakers in the United States did not want it: in a processor made by Huawei.

台积电是世界上大多数尖端计算机芯片的制造商，该公司上个月发现，其生产的一款芯片恰恰进入了美国政策制定者不希望它出现的地方：华为生产的一款处理器中。

It is not clear exactly how the chip was routed to Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications firm under U.S. sanctions, but a TSMC customer from China had placed orders with TSMC for a processor with the same design and specifications.

目前尚不清楚该芯片是如何流入受美国制裁的中国电信公司华为手中的，但台积电的一位来自中国的客户曾向台积电订购了一款具有相同设计和规格的处理器。

Now, TSMC will stop sending its most advanced chips to China while it reviews orders to make sure they comply with U.S. regulations, according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.

据两位未获授权公开发言的知情人士透露，现在台积电将停止向中国出口其最先进的芯片，同时对订单进行审查，以确保符合美国的规定。

The world’s biggest tech companies contract with TSMC to manufacture semiconductors, the tiny pieces of silicon with billions of circuits etched onto their surface that power everything from iPhones to electric cars. TSMC works from specifications designed by its customers, who then sell to their own clients.

世界上最大的科技公司都与台积电签订生产半导体的合同，这种微小的硅片表面蚀刻着数十亿个电路，为从iPhone到电动汽车的各种产品提供动力。台积电按照客户设计的规格进行生产，然后这些客户再将产品销售给自己的客户。

The U.S. government has tried for years to keep the most advanced chips, which are essential for artificial intelligence systems, out of the hands of Chinese companies over concerns they could be used for military purposes.

美国政府几年来一直试图阻止最先进、对人工智能系统至关重要的芯片落入中国公司之手，担心这些芯片可能被用于军事目的。

It has blocked American companies like Nvidia from selling powerful A.I. chips in China and urged Japanese and Dutch firms to stop selling to China the specialized machines used to manufacture the chips.

它阻止英伟达等美国公司在中国销售功能强大的人工智能芯片，并敦促日本和荷兰公司停止向中国销售用于制造芯片的专用机器。

But the U.S. rules do not pose a blanket ban on TSMC making chips for sale to China. Instead, the regulations say the Taiwanese chip maker must verify that its Chinese customers have not requested any chips with powerful capabilities.

但美国的规定并未全面禁止台积电生产向中国出售芯片。法规只是要求这家台湾芯片制造商必须核实它的中国客户购买的不是功能强大的芯片。

The discovery last month of one of its chips in the Huawei device raised questions about how TSMC vets its customers.

上月，华为设备中发现了台积电的芯片，引发了人们对台积电如何审查客户的质疑。

TSMC’s plan to stop and review orders from some Chinese buyers was reported online in China only days after Donald J. Trump won his second term in office. The president-elect has previously said that U.S. subsidies for Taiwanese companies were a bad idea, because Taiwan had already grown to dominate the chip industry at the expense of American rivals. In April, TSMC was awarded $6.6 billion to build a factory in Arizona.

就在特朗普赢得第二任期的几天后，中国的网络上就出现了台积电计划停止和审查部分中国买家订单的报道。这位候任总统此前曾表示，美国对台湾公司的补贴是个坏主意，因为台湾已经在芯片行业占据主导地位，牺牲了美国竞争对手的利益。今年4月，台积电获得66亿美元的拨款，用于在亚利桑那州建厂。

Experts say it is hard to know exactly how powerful a chip will be on the basis of its design alone, making it challenging for TSMC to verify that the chips its Chinese customers order meet the U.S. requirements.

专家们表示，仅仅根据芯片的设计，很难确切地知道芯片的功能有多强大，因此台积电很难验证其中国客户订购的芯片是否符合美国的要求。

Most of TSMC’s revenue comes from North American companies, including Apple and Nvidia, the world’s largest corporations. But Chinese firms like Baidu, a technology giant that makes artificial intelligence systems, and Horizon Robotics, an autonomous driving software company, have remained a small but important part of the Taiwanese chip maker’s business.

台积电的大部分收入来自北美企业，包括全球最大的公司苹果和英伟达。但制造人工智能系统的科技巨头百度和自动驾驶软件公司地平线机器人等中国公司在这家台湾芯片制造商的业务中，仍然是一个虽小但很重要的部分。

TSMC’s revenue from Chinese companies has been nearly cut in half since the U.S. government started to crack down on chip exports. In 2019, 20 percent of TSMC’s revenue came from China. Last year, it was down to 12 percent.

自美国政府开始打击芯片出口以来，台积电来自中国公司的收入几乎减少了一半。2019年，台积电20%的收入来自中国。去年，这一比例降至12%。

The Commerce Department, which oversees U.S. export controls, declined to comment.

负责监管美国出口管制的商务部拒绝置评。

The U.S. government put restrictions on TSMC in October 2023 that required the company to verify that chip designs from China did not exceed certain parameters, or else obtain a special license from the U.S. government to make them, one of the people familiar with the requirements said. The intent was to require TSMC to verify if the chips exceeded certain thresholds, the person said, but that process had somehow broken down.

其中一位知情人士称，美国政府在2023年10月对台积电实施了限制，要求该公司核实来自中国的芯片设计没有超过某些参数，否则就必须从美国政府获得制造这些芯片的特别许可。这位知情人士说，此举的目的是要求台积电核实芯片是否超过了某些阈值，但这一过程不知何故失效了。

TSMC said in a statement that it was a law-abiding company and had not supplied chips to Huawei since the U.S. restrictions went into effect. “We are committed to complying with all applicable rules and regulations, including applicable export controls,” the company said.

台积电在声明中称自己是一家守法的公司，自美国的限制措施生效以来，没有向华为供应过芯片。“我们承诺遵守所有适用规章制度，包括适用的出口管控，”该公司表示。