SEC looking at AMD’s ties to Iran and Syria


The Wall Street Journal first reported today that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the possibility that Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is making computer chips for Iran and other Middle East companies that have ties to terrorism.

An AMD processor

An AMD processor

The story is based on a May 8 letter that the SEC sent to AMD, asking the company to clarify its business relationships with Iran, Syria and Sudan, all of which are identified as state sponsors of terrorism by the U.S. State Department.

That letter also mentions a Dec. 2007 news report that talks about Iran using AMD chips to build a modest supercomputer. It’s unclear which report the SEC is talking about, but if you click here, you can see at least one news report by Computerworld.

AMD’s attorneys wrote this letter back to the SEC, and an AMD spokeswoman said today that the company does not export its chips to Iran or any other countries that are embargoed by the U.S. and it also prohibits its distributors from exporting its chips to those countries.

AMD, of course, is one of the owners of GlobalFoundries Inc., the Sunnyvale, Calif. company building a $4.2 billion computer chip fab in Malta.

AMD is GlobalFoundries’ largest customer, and it is possible that AMD chips would be made in Malta, although GlobalFoundries have been adding new customers.

The largest shareholder of GlobalFoundries is the Advanced Technology Investment Co., a government-run fund in Abu Dhabi.

Apparently, the issue of possible sales to Iran came up before the secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States in December when AMD was trying to get U.S. approval of the joint venture with the Abu Dhabi fund, according to AMD’s letter to the SEC.

Categories: General
Larry Rulison

4 Responses

  1. Dave 108 says:

    If it’s true they should charge the CEO with Treason.

  2. John E. Gibbons says:

    In all probability, some AMD manufactured equipment found its’ way into Iran. Look for a connection to the shipments from their Dresden manufacturing operation.These people will sell to anyone that has the cash. This is an example of the type of happening that the public will face in the future with AMD and Global. How anyone in their right mind could logically spend an amount totaling about $1 million per job to bring this questionable firm into New York State is beyond reason? It is going to be a rough ride when this charade crashes.

  3. justaguy says:

    Is it possible to stop a company from providing other countries with parts necessary for computers, becuase if that was the case, they would have to also force AMD to stop making chips for every other country ouotside of the US, becuase it could be deemed a threat to our security..

  4. resident says:

    If you read the Computerworld article linked from the WSJ, they claim they can tell in photos where the chips came from…they think they were pulled out of servers that came from the UAE, and in that article they point out that the capital of the UAE is…Abu Dhabi…which is the entity that owns part of GLOBALFOUNDRIES. Small world, eh?