Senate committee to question US semiconductor companies over Russian weapons

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said on Thursday it will hold a hearing with four companies on the use of U.S. semiconductors in Russian weapons used in the war in Ukraine.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat and the committee chairman, announced that executives from Analog Devices, Advanced Micro Devices, Intel and Texas Instruments will testify at a hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

The committee said that “the products of these companies have consistently appeared in recovered Russian weapons. The hearing will examine the companies’ compliance with export controls designed to prevent Russia from accessing American technology.”

Intel declined to comment. The other three companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The companies are sending vice presidents who oversee trade compliance to testify.

At a February hearing, Blumenthal said U.S. semiconductor makers should do more to prevent their chips from illegally getting into equipment used by the Russian military.

Reports show that chips and other technology from the United States can still be found in a wide range of Russian battlefield equipment in Ukraine – from drones and radios to missiles and armoured vehicles – despite strict export controls imposed by the U.S. in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.

According to a Senate memo published in February, preliminary data shows a significant increase in exports to countries that Russia can use to bypass controls from 2021.

In February, Intel said its agreements require customers and distributors to comply with the regulations and that the company is working to track and mitigate potential distributor issues.

Also in February, AMD said it would “embrace strengthened public-private partnerships to combat illegal product diversion.” Texas Instruments said it was investing “significant time and resources” to keep its chips “away from bad actors,” while Analog Devices said it had taken “significant and proactive measures to mitigate gray market risks.”

(Reporting: David Shepardson, Editing: Bill Berkrot)