US’s AOS agreed to $4.25 million fine over secret chip sales to Huawei

A US chipmaker, Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (AOS), agreed to pay a $4.25 million fine over chip sales to Huawei. The decision came out on Wednesday following a settlement with the US Department of Commerce.

AOS – Alpha and Omega Semiconductor is a US-based company. It acts as a major supplier of powerful chipsets and has specialized in designing and making a wide range of Power ICs, MOSFETs, and other technologies.

Since 2019, AOS has been shipping its cutting-edge chipsets to the Chinese tech giant – Huawei. When this came to light, the US launched an investigation into the chipmaker as it was suspected of violating export control regulations.

This happened as Huawei fell on the “sanctioned list” in 2019, and as per the US regulations, one must have an authorized approval (an export license) to ship advanced tech and chip products to banned Chinese firms.

But seemingly, AOS didn’t have the legal right to ship chips to Huawei. As a result, the US continued to eye AOS’s transactions with Huawei for five years. While the Justice Department wrapped up the investigation in 2024 without any charges, an internal scrutiny was ongoing by the US Commerce Department.

AOS received a letter on April 16, 2025, of $4.25 million fine for violating US export controls and over-secret chip sales to Huawei. It has sold around 1650 power controllers, smart power stages, and relevant items to the Chinese firm.

Alpha and Omega Semiconductor company said:

“This resolution does not impact AOS’s ongoing business operations and brings to an end the US government’s five-year-plus investigation. AOS is pleased to bring this matter to a close with only limited administrative export control charges.”

Huawei is currently framing its chip ecosystem with native partners. It is making efforts to become self-sufficient and reduce its dependency on US products.

Although the struggle continues as the OEM lacks advanced chipmaking tools. Perhaps things may take a positive turn for Huawei in the time ahead.

(Image Credits: Huawei)

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