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Chinese chips advance despite being shut out of US technology

Sep 22, 2026, 7:35am EDT
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Semiconductor chips are seen on a printed circuit board in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023.
Florence Lo/Reuters

Chinese tech firms showcased advances in chipmaking, despite US curbs on access to cutting-edge semiconductor technology.

Alibaba shares rose after it unveiled what it called China’s most powerful chip ever, part of a bid to expand across the hardware and software components of the AI ecosystem. Its announcement came just days after memory chipmaker CXMT — which is fast winning domestic market share from global giants Samsung and SK Hynix — said its latest chip platform was entering mass production.

Researchers are making inroads at the cutting edge, too: Chinese Academy of Sciences scientists said they had made progress in using older technology to build highly advanced chips, a potential workaround to US restrictions on accessing advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

A chart showing Chinese chip sales.
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