What happened?
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has applied its new rule for the first time, allowing it to ban devices based on the chips inside them rather than on individual products or brands. Under this rule, a dashboard camera and a wireless video transmitter have been barred from sale and marketing in the US.
Why the ban?
Both devices contain HiSilicon's Hi3516CV610 UHD Smart Vision system-on-a-chip (SoC). The chip includes Wi-Fi, Ethernet, video encoding units, an Arm Cortex-A7 core and an NPU (neural processing unit) for AI features. The FCC argues that the built-in multimodal large model and transformer acceleration running on the NPU enable functions such as face detection, posing a foreign surveillance risk.
What the rule changes
The regulation aims to prevent rebranded products using parts from Chinese manufacturers from circumventing bans. Huawei and its subsidiaries are on the FCC's Covered List of entities deemed to pose a risk to US national security.
Context
Huawei has previously been accused of using shell companies to get around US supply restrictions on TSMC, and such scandals have led to various product bans in the US.
