Applied Materials to pay $252 million over illegal exports to China

The US Department of Commerce on Wednesday announced a $252 million settlement with Applied Materials for illegally exporting chipmaking equipment to China’s top chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.

In 2023, Reuters exclusively reported that Applied Materials was under US ‌criminal investigation ⁠for ⁠producing semiconductor equipment in Massachusetts, then shipping the equipment to a subsidiary in South ​Korea, before sending it on to SMIC in China.