Five lawsuits were filed in Texas this week, putting some of the biggest names in PC tech under an uncomfortable spotlight. AMD, Intel, Texas Instruments, and a company owned by Berkshire Hathaway were accused of failing to do enough to prevent their technologies from falling into Russia’s sanctioned hands, according to Bloomberg. Some of the accusatory language was highly charged, criticizing the American tech titans for “willful ignorance” or even for being “merchants of death.”
The US, EU, UK, and G7 announced sanctions on Russia almost immediately after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. AMD and Intel ceased direct shipments to Russia within weeks to comply with the latest export controls. Sanctions were ramped up and tightened as the brutal war rumbled on. However, most people are aware that Russia is still getting advanced US tech to power its war machine. In fact, the five lawsuits highlight alleged examples of AMD and Intel components being found in drones and missiles in incidents spanning 2023 to 2025.
Willful ignorance or negligence?
These cases aren’t about Russian ingenuity or duplicity in getting their hands on sanctioned Western tech, though. Rather, they accuse the various companies of willful ignorance of their parts being resold via gray markets and other channels. The US tech components eventually end up in Russian military equipment, such as drones and missiles, in violation of US sanctions.
Another suit talked about the US tech companies’ “domestic corporate negligence” for failing to implement export control and diversion-prevention systems.
Five examples of US tech-reliant weapons killing “dozens of people” during the Russia-Ukraine war were provided in the court documents seen by Bloomberg. In one instance, AMD and Intel parts were found in Iran-made drones, alleges one of the lawsuits filed on behalf of dozens of Ukrainian citizens. Other examples of the ineffectiveness of sanctions as they stand indicate that Russian-made KH-101 cruise missiles and Iskander ballistic missiles contain sanctioned US tech.
Intel responds with a fresh statement
Bloomberg reports that it hasn’t received any new statements from AMD or TI regarding the Texas court filings. Previously, both firms have highlighted that their business dealings are fully compliant with all US sanctions.
Intel has supplied an updated statement to address the new accusations. Its statement reminded Bloomberg that Intel was very quick to suspend shipments of its components to Russia and Belarus at the outbreak of the war. It echoed previous statements from AMD and TI regarding compliance with all sanctions and regulations. However, it added, “We hold our suppliers, customers, and distributors accountable to these same standards,” in its new statement.
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