TSMC said it alerted the US government to an alleged attempt by Huawei to have the chipmaker manufacture artificial intelligence (AI) chips for the company.

The revelation comes after it was first reported that an investigation was underway by the Department of Commerce looking into whether TSMC has been making AI or smartphone chips for the Chinese tech giant.

Now, the chipmaker has said it notified the Department of Commerce when a customer placed orders for a chip that resembled Huawei’s Ascend 910B. TSMC previously produced the chip’s predecessor for Huawei but has not worked with the company since US sanctions came into force in 2020.

Having initially not commented directly on the alleged investigation, simply saying it takes “prompt action to ensure compliance,” in an emailed statement to the FT, TSMC said: “We proactively communicated with the US commerce department regarding the matter in the report. We are not aware of TSMC being the subject of any investigation at this time.”

Citing a person familiar with the situation, the FT reported that “conversations” had taken place between the department and the chipmaker but there was no suggestion that TSMC wilfully or maliciously violated US sanctions or would be the target of any US government probe.

The US is currently engaged in a trade war with China and has imposed controls on the export of some types of chips to the country.

The US government claims this is to stop China from developing advanced AI systems and to prevent it from having access to technology that could be used for military modernization and human rights abuses however, former ASML CEO Peter Wennink argued earlier this year that the export restrictions are largely ideologically driven rather than based on facts.