Huawei's 'chip queen' presents the Tau Scaling Law.

      **TL;DR** He Tingbo, Huawei’s semiconductor leader, re-emerged after seven years to present the Tau Scaling Law and LogicFolding architecture. The company claims it can achieve 1.4nm-equivalent chip density by 2031 without using EUV lithography, but it faces significant challenges in heat dissipation, EDA tools, and yield rates.

      For seven years, He Tingbo remained out of the public eye. The leader of Huawei’s semiconductor division, often referred to as the company’s “chip queen,” disappeared from the spotlight in 2019 after the U.S. cut off the Chinese firm's access to advanced technologies. Her absence became emblematic of Huawei's struggle for survival. This changed on May 25 at the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems in Shanghai, where she gave a keynote speech titled “New Semiconductor Path in Practice.”

      **A New Approach for a New Era**

      She introduced the “Tau (τ) Scaling Law,” which replaces traditional geometric transistor miniaturization with a focus on signal-propagation time as the benchmark for advancement. Named after the Greek letter representing propagation delay, this law prioritizes minimizing signal travel time throughout devices and circuits rather than merely reducing transistor size.

      Huawei asserts that by 2031, chips developed under this law will achieve transistor densities equivalent to a 1.4-nanometre process, all achieved without the extreme ultraviolet lithography machines affected by U.S. sanctions. The company claims to have designed and mass-produced 381 chips based on this principle in the past six years.

      Analysts note that the fundamental physics is not entirely groundbreaking. Brady Wang, associate director at Counterpoint Research, observed that Design-Technology Co-Optimisation techniques have been utilized worldwide for years and that Huawei is “leveraging design and packaging innovations to realize some benefits generally associated with more advanced process nodes.” However, synthesizing these concepts into a cohesive law was significant. CGTN reported that semiconductor researchers are comparing it to Gordon Moore’s foundational observation from 1965.

      **LogicFolding: More than Just 3D Stacking**

      The physical embodiment of the Tau law is LogicFolding, a proprietary architecture that transforms traditional flat circuit designs into vertically stacked layouts. While some critics regard it as merely an advanced form of 3D packaging, He Tingbo emphasized the distinction: conventional 3D stacking connects pre-manufactured chips, whereas LogicFolding reimagines the internal design of a single chip from scratch.

      This design approach boosts transistor density by 53.5%, adding 238 million transistors per square millimetre of chip area, according to Tom’s Hardware. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called the architecture “a breakthrough for Huawei” but noted it does not immediately threaten TSMC’s manufacturing supremacy, as “TSMC and Taiwan have had this technology for 10 years.”

      **Born from Sanctions**

      Huawei’s journey in semiconductors amid sanctions has been a narrative of transforming constraints into motivation. In 2019, He Tingbo revealed an internal letter outlining a “spare tyres” strategy, which consisted of backup plans the company had prepared for such circumstances.

      At the IEEE forum, she expressed considerable frustration, stating she felt “as if there was really no way out.” Her realization came from the 2,000-year-old Dujiangyan irrigation system in Sichuan province, built without contemporary machinery. She began to regard sanctions as engineering challenges to be addressed rather than obstacles to overcome.

      This resolve yielded results. In September 2023, Huawei introduced the Mate 60 Pro smartphone, powered by the 5G-capable Kirin 9000s. A TechInsights teardown confirmed that the chip was produced by SMIC using its 7nm process, pushing DUV lithography tools to their limits without use of any EUV equipment.

      Huawei has since presented a three-year roadmap for its Ascend AI processors as domestic alternatives to Nvidia, with the Ascend 950 due in 2026, the 960 in 2027, and the 970 in 2028. Founder Ren Zhengfei told People’s Daily, “There is actually no need to worry about the chip issue.” He added, “By using methods like stacking and clustering, computing performance is comparable to the state-of-the-art level.”

      Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged that Nvidia’s share of China’s high-end AI chip market fell sharply from 95% to nearly zero, as he remarked at the Citadel Securities Future of Global Markets event in October 2025. Huawei’s rotating chairman Xu Zhijun remarked on the irony, stating, “If the United States hadn’t forced our country, our companies, and our industry, we wouldn’t have done something like this. We are also grateful to the U.S. for enabling our country’s semiconductor industry chain to truly grow,” he stated to reporters.

      **The Geopolitical Landscape**

      Washington remains intent on