The government has pulled licenses from companies such as Intel and Qualcomm that permitted sales of chips used in laptops and handsets to Huawei Technologies, a sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment maker, according to sources familiar with the situation. The businesses were notified on Tuesday that the licenses had been rescinded, effective immediately, another source said.
“This action will bolster U.S. national security, protect American ingenuity, and diminish Communist China’s ability to advance its technology,” said Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik in a statement.
Last month’s release of Huawei’s first AI-enabled laptop that was powered by Intel’s new Core Ultra 9 Processor drew ire from Republican legislators, who said they were told that the Commerce Department had allowed Intel to sell the chip to the Chinese company. Some conservative lawmakers have been pressuring the Biden administration to go further in efforts to obstruct Huawei.
Huawei relies on Intel chips to power its laptops, and the move has the potential to harm U.S. suppliers that do business with the company. “China resolutely opposes the United States overstretching the concept of national security and abusing export controls to suppress Chinese companies without justification,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.
