In recent years, US sanctions have significantly impacted the Chinese semiconductor industry, restricting access to certain chip-making technologies. This has prompted a focused effort to develop new approaches that enable China to advance its semiconductor capabilities despite these limitations. One such promising solution is the emergence of chiplet technology, offering modularity and potential for circumventing export bans, reducing manufacturing costs, and increasing functionality.
Chiplets differ from traditional chips by taking a modular approach, with each chiplet serving a specific function, such as data processing or storage, and subsequently interconnected to form a cohesive system. This approach offers advantages in terms of cost-effectiveness, specialized production, and potential for incremental upgrades. Major companies like AMD, Intel, and Apple have already integrated chiplet technology into their products, recognizing its potential to extend computing power beyond the limits imposed by Moore's Law.
For Chinese chip companies, chiplets offer an opportunity to overcome the limitations caused by sanctions and accelerate the development of more powerful chips domestically, particularly beneficial for crucial technology sectors like AI. However, the integration of chiplets into a cohesive device requires advanced packaging technologies, an area in which China is already making significant advancements. Although challenges such as industry standardization and compatibility exist, investment and government support are driving the rapid growth of the chiplet industry in China, exemplified by substantial funding from the National Nature Science Foundation and the establishment of "Chiplet Valley" in Wuxi.
Nonetheless, there are trade-offs associated with chiplet technology, including the need for strict compatibility and the potential for increased power consumption and heat generation. Additionally, the lack of a universally recognized standard for chiplet integration poses a risk to the technology's widespread adoption and may lead to a return to traditional one-piece chips.
Chiplets offer a potential performance boost for China's semiconductor industry, however they may not fully bridge the gap with advanced products due to limitations in obtaining or manufacturing lithography machines. Continuous updates and expansions of semiconductor sanctions by the US also pose a potential threat to chiplet technologies. The recent inclusion of references to chiplets in the US Commerce Department's amended sanction further highlights the evolving regulatory challenges facing chiplet development.
While chiplets present a potential shortcut for strengthening the Chinese semiconductor industry, they do not offer a definitive solution to the broader US-China technology conflict. Despite substantial investment and efforts, the development and adoption of chiplet technology will require substantial time and navigation of practical and political obstacles.
