Latest news with #SiemensEDA
TechCrunch
a day ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
US imposes new rules to curb semiconductor design software sales to China
It appears the Trump administration has imposed new export controls on chip design software as it seeks to further undermine China's ability to make and use advanced AI chips. Siemens EDA, Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys all confirmed that they have received notices from the U.S. Commerce Department about new export controls on electronic automation design (EDA) software to China. EDA tools are primarily used to aid with the design and validation of semiconductor manufacturing, testing, and for monitoring performance and quality. They are used by chip foundries, chipmakers, networking hardware companies, the automotive industry, and many more. Siemens EDA, a division of German tech conglomerate Siemens, told TechCrunch that it has received a notice from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) last week about new export controls on EDA software to China and Chinese military end users. 'Siemens has supported customers in China for more than 150 years and will continue to work with our customers globally to mitigate the impact of these new restrictions while operating in compliance with applicable national export control regimes,' the company said. U.S.-based Synopsys, which also makes EDA software, said on Thursday that it had also received a similar letter from the BIS. The company also suspended its forecast for the third quarter and full-year 2025. Cadence also received a notice from the BIS saying a license is now required for 'the export, re-export or in-country transfer of electronic design automation software' to customers in China. Techcrunch event Save now through June 4 for TechCrunch Sessions: AI Save $300 on your ticket to TC Sessions: AI—and get 50% off a second. Hear from leaders at OpenAI, Anthropic, Khosla Ventures, and more during a full day of expert insights, hands-on workshops, and high-impact networking. These low-rate deals disappear when the doors open on June 5. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW The news was first reported by The Financial Times. The new export rules come as the U.S. ramps up its efforts to hinder Chinese companies as the battle for AI supremacy heats up. But these export controls are increasingly hurting the U.S. chip industry, which has long enjoyed significant market share in China. Nvidia alone has incurred billions in losses due to restrictions on sales of its H20 and Hopper AI chips to Chinese customers. The company, along with rival AMD, is even said to be working on selling lower-powered versions of its AI chips to Chinese customers. The U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately return a request for comment outside regular business hours.
CNA
2 days ago
- Business
- CNA
US curbs chip design software, chemicals, other shipments to China
The United States has ordered a broad swathe of companies to stop shipping goods to China without a license and revoked licenses already granted to certain suppliers, said three people familiar with the matter. The new restrictions - which are likely to escalate tensions with Beijing - appear aimed at choke points to prevent China from getting products necessary for key sectors, one of the people said. Products affected include design software and chemicals for semiconductors, butane and ethane, machine tools, and aviation equipment, the people said. Many companies received letters from the US Department of Commerce over the last few days informing them of the new restrictions. Firms that supply electronic design automation (EDA) software for semiconductors were sent letters last Friday that licenses would now be needed to ship to Chinese customers, two of the sources said. The electronic design automation software makers include Cadence, Synopsys and Siemens EDA, one said. The two sources said the Commerce Department will review requests for licenses to ship to China on a case-by-case basis, suggesting the action was not an outright ban. It is unclear whether the new restrictions are part of a broader strategy to create leverage for trade talks during a pause in the imposition of higher tariffs. The Commerce Department said it is reviewing exports of strategic significance to China, while noting "in some cases, Commerce has suspended existing export licenses or imposed additional license requirements while the review is pending." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shares of Cadence, which declined to comment, closed down 10.7 per cent and shares of Synopsys fell 9.6 per cent. Synopsys' CEO Sassine Ghazi said in a call with analysts that the company had not received a letter nor had it heard from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, which enforces export controls. "We are aware of the reporting and speculations, but Synopsys has not received a notice from BIS ... We have not received a letter," Ghazi said. After the market closed, Synopsys reaffirmed its revenue forecast for 2025. Its shares and those of Cadence bounced back 3.5 per cent in trading after the close. Siemens EDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Restricting Chinese firms' access to EDA tools would be a big blow to the industry as Chinese chip design customers heavily rely on top-of-the-line US software. In April, Chinese state news agency Xinhua said Synopsys, Cadence and Siemens's Mentor Graphics together control more than 70 per cent of the market share in China. Chinese companies that have said they use Synopsys and Cadence software include design firm Brite Semiconductor, Zhuhai Jieli and semiconductor IP portfolio provider VeriSilicon. VeriSilicon and Brite did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Calls to Zhuhai Jielei went unanswered. "CHOKE POINT" However, three sources familiar with the matter in the EDA tools industry said on Thursday that business was still carrying on normally in China as companies awaited more clarification on how the restrictions need to be implemented. "I believe this is another ineffective measure that will only help China advance its self-reliance, just like with semiconductors," said Nori Chiou, investment director at Singapore-headquartered White Oak Capital Partners, adding that there are many pirated versions of these design tools, which are not hard to obtain. Chiou said once legitimate channels are blocked, many Chinese EDA companies will benefit. Domestic alternatives to the US firms' tools include Empyrean Technology and Primarius Technologies, whose shares jumped 17 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. In 2023, Huawei said it had developed its own EDA tools for chip designs that can be produced at 14-nanometre or more advanced technology. It has been blocked from using US suppliers since 2019. Any move to strip the software makers of their Chinese customers could deal a blow to their bottom. "They are the true choke point," said a former Commerce Department official, who added that rules restricting the export of EDA tools to China have been under consideration since the first Trump administration, but were ruled out as too aggressive. Synopsys relies on China for about 16 per cent of its annual revenue, and China accounts for about 12 per cent of annual revenue for Cadence. Synopsys, which partners with chip companies such as Nvidia, Qualcomm and Intel, provides software and hardware used for designing advanced processors.
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
U.S. curbs chip design software, chemicals and other shipments to China
The United States has ordered a broad swathe of companies to stop shipping goods to China without a license and revoked licenses already granted to certain suppliers, said three people familiar with the matter. The new restrictions — which are likely to escalate tensions with Beijing — appear aimed at choke points to prevent China from getting products necessary for key sectors, one of the people said. Products affected include design software and chemicals for semiconductors, butane and ethane, machine tools, and aviation equipment, the people said. Many companies received letters from the U.S. Department of Commerce over the last few days informing them of the new restrictions. Firms that supply electronic design automation (EDA) software for semiconductors were sent letters last Friday that licenses would now be needed to ship to Chinese customers, two of the sources said. The electronic design automation software makers include Cadence, Synopsys and Siemens EDA, one said. The two sources said the Commerce Department will review requests for licenses to ship to China on a case-by-case basis, suggesting the action was not an outright ban. It is unclear whether the new restrictions are part of a broader strategy to create leverage for trade talks during a pause in the imposition of higher tariffs. The Commerce Department said it is reviewing exports of strategic significance to China, while noting "in some cases, Commerce has suspended existing export licenses or imposed additional license requirements while the review is pending." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shares of Cadence, which declined to comment, closed down 10.7%, and shares of Synopsys fell 9.6%. Synopsys' CEO Sassine Ghazi said in a call with analysts that the company had not received a letter nor had it heard from the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, which enforces export controls. "We are aware of the reporting and speculations, but Synopsys has not received a notice from BIS ... We have not received a letter," Ghazi said. After the market closed, Synopsys reaffirmed its revenue forecast for 2025. Its shares and those of Cadence bounced back 3.5% in trading after the close. Siemens EDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Any move to strip the software makers of their Chinese customers could deal a blow to their bottom line and to their Chinese chip design customers, which heavily rely on top-of-the-line U.S. software. "They are the true choke point," said a former Commerce Department official, who added that rules restricting the export of EDA tools to China have been under consideration since the first Trump administration but were ruled out as too aggressive. Synopsys relies on China for about 16% of its annual revenue, and China accounts for about 12% of annual revenue for Cadence. Synopsys, which partners with chip companies such as Nvidia, Qualcomm and Intel, provides software and hardware used for designing advanced processors. The Financial Times earlier reported that the Trump administration had ordered the software firms to stop selling their services to Chinese groups.
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
US curbs chip design software, chemicals, other shipments to China
Chinese chip design customers rely heavily on top-of-the-line US software. (Pexels pic) WASHINGTON : The US has ordered a broad swathe of companies to stop shipping goods to China without a license and revoked licenses already granted to certain suppliers, said three people familiar with the matter. The new restrictions – which are likely to escalate tensions with Beijing – appear aimed at choke points to prevent China from getting products necessary for key sectors, one of the people said. Products affected include design software and chemicals for semiconductors, butane and ethane, machine tools, and aviation equipment, the people said. Many companies received letters from the US Department of Commerce over the last few days informing them of the new restrictions. Firms that supply electronic design automation (EDA) software for semiconductors were sent letters last Friday that licenses would now be needed to ship to Chinese customers, two of the sources said. The electronic design automation software makers include Cadence, Synopsys and Siemens EDA, one said. The two sources said the commerce department will review requests for licenses to ship to China on a case-by-case basis, suggesting the action was not an outright ban. It is unclear whether the new restrictions are part of a broader strategy to create leverage for trade talks during a pause in the imposition of higher tariffs. The commerce department said it is reviewing exports of strategic significance to China, while noting 'in some cases, commerce has suspended existing export licenses or imposed additional license requirements while the review is pending.' The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shares of Cadence, which declined to comment, closed down 10.7% and shares of Synopsys fell 9.6%. Synopsys' CEO Sassine Ghazi said in a call with analysts that the company had not received a letter nor had it heard from the Commerce department's bureau of industry and security, which enforces export controls. 'We are aware of the reporting and speculations, but Synopsys has not received a notice from BIS … We have not received a letter,' Ghazi said. After the market closed, Synopsys reaffirmed its revenue forecast for 2025. Its shares and those of Cadence bounced back 3.5% in trading after the close. Siemens EDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Any move to strip the software makers of their Chinese customers could deal a blow to their bottom line and to their Chinese chip design customers, which heavily rely on top-of-the-line US software. 'They are the true choke point,' said a former commerce department official, who added that rules restricting the export of EDA tools to China have been under consideration since the first Trump administration, but were ruled out as too aggressive. Synopsys relies on China for about 16% of its annual revenue, and China accounts for about 12% of annual revenue for Cadence. Synopsys, which partners with chip companies such as Nvidia, Qualcomm and Intel, provides software and hardware used for designing advanced processors. The Financial Times earlier reported that the Trump administration had ordered the software firms to stop selling their services to Chinese groups.
CNN
3 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Trump administration orders some US companies to halt sales to China
CNN — The Trump administration has effectively cut off some American companies from selling software used to design semiconductors to China, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Impacted companies include Cadence, Synopsys and Siemens EDA, according to the FT's reporting, which cited people familiar with the matter. CNN was not immediately able to confirm that. The three companies didn't return requests for comment. The New York Times subsequently reported on Wednesday that sales to China of jet engine technology and certain chemicals were also halted. The Commerce Department told CNN on Wednesday it is 'reviewing exports of strategic significance to China.' 'In some cases, Commerce has suspended existing export licenses or imposed additional license requirements while the review is pending,' a spokesperson told CNN. However, they didn't respond to CNN's inquiry regarding which companies that included. The move could be the latest blow in an ongoing trade war between the world's two biggest economies. While that trade war is ostensibly on pause while the US and China continue to negotiate a trade deal, the Commerce Department's actions underscore the acrimony between the two nations and the challenges in keeping the peace. The pause came after Chinese government officials and Trump administration officials met in Geneva earlier this month. The US lowered tariffs on products from China to a minimum of 30% from 145%. Meanwhile, China lowered tariffs on American goods to a minimum of 10% from 125%. The truce is set to expire in August and is intended to give both countries more time to negotiate a potentially longer-term trade deal. However, either country could raise tariff rates again and throw the relationship back into turmoil. Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the US, declined to comment on the Commerce Department's latest actions. However, he said in a statement provided to CNN that 'China firmly opposes the US's overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export controls, and maliciously blocking and suppressing China.' 'China will keep a close eye on relevant developments, and take resolute measures to firmly defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies,' he added.
