DigitalGD published an apology after revealing that its CEC-IDE software application, which helps programmers write code, was based on Microsoft's Visual Studio Code (VS Code), with minor tweaks.

VS Code is available under the Massachusetts Institute of Technology licence, a permissive open-source licence allowing for reuse even for commercial purposes. All the users had to do was disclose this.

DigitalGD said this fact was not disclosed due to "negligence" and admitted that its description of its software as "self-developed" has met scrutiny and doubt from Chinese programmers. "We are deeply sorry and humiliated for this, and relevant teams have been ordered to make rectifications," the company said.

Chinese authorities have demanded 'safe and controllable' hardware and software for critical infrastructure, preferably without the slightest sniff of US involvement, for "security reasons."  They have been handing out cash to Chinese companies that turn out uniquely Chinese products, encouraging a few to make false claims about them.

In May, Powerleader announced a "home-developed" Powerstar P3-01105 CPU that turned out to be an Intel Core i3-10105 Comet Lake CPU.