Apple is in talks to buy chips from two Chinese semiconductor makers, ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc. and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (CXMT and YMTC), which are on the Pentagon blacklist due to ties to Beijing's military and state. Talks are ongoing and nothing is final, according to sources close to the development. Apple CEO Tim Cook has appealed to Trump administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, to soften political fallout from any possible deal. Apple claims its current suppliers—Samsung Electronics Co., SK Hynix Inc., and Micron Technology Inc.—are charging excessive prices in the tight memory market, forcing Apple to raise prices across Macs, iPads, home devices, and Vision Pro. A company spokesperson said the rapid expansion of AI was to blame, adding that Apple had “never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly.” Samsung and SK Hynix have pledged more than $880 billion to build two plants each and expand capacity. Buying chips from CXMT and YMTC would expand Apple’s roster of memory suppliers to five. YMTC is already on the US Entity List; CXMT could be next, as a US interagency committee approved its addition to the trade blacklist last year, but the Commerce Department has held off. Congress is weighing tougher curbs, but the Trump administration remains divided. Apple has argued it needs Chinese memory chips and sought assurances that CXMT will not be blacklisted.