Huawei tells customers to find their own AI chip memory, effectively outsourcing procurement to the black market

Huawei is telling customers to source the high-performance memory for its AI chips on their own, effectively pushing procurement onto the black market, according to The Decoder. Smugglers exploit a loophole in US export rules by bundling HBM with low-end processors, shipping them through Hong Kong and separating the chips on site, while prices for smuggled HBM3E memory have surged to around $4,000 per unit within a year. The story matters because it shows how export controls are shifting cost and risk onto customers and sustaining a grey supply chain behind China's AI hardware.

• The Decoder2026-11-03 11:47