Huawei Develops Next-Generation AI Chip to Challenge NVIDIA’s Leadership in AI

Table of Contents

Toggle

Huawei Develops Next-Generation AI Chips

U.S. Tightens Export Restrictions on China

China Accelerates Technological Independence

AI Chips

According to informed sources, Huawei has begun arranging preliminary tests for the Ascend 910D and is in discussions with local technology companies, with the first batch of samples expected to be delivered by the end of May at the earliest. As the product is still in the early stages, multiple rounds of performance testing will follow to ensure it meets customer needs. Huawei hopes that the performance of the Ascend 910D chip will surpass Nvidia’s H100 chip, which was launched in 2022 and is widely used for AI training.

In addition to the new chip, Huawei plans to ship over 800,000 earlier models of the Ascend 910B and 910C chips to domestic customers, including state-owned telecommunications operators and private AI developers like ByteDance. Reports indicate that as U.S.-China technological friction intensifies, Beijing authorities are encouraging Chinese AI developers to increase the procurement of domestically produced chips to reduce dependence on U.S. technology.

U.S. Tightens Export Restrictions on China

Nvidia announced in mid-April that due to a new round of restrictions imposed by the U.S. government on exports to China, it expects a financial impact of approximately $5.5 billion on its AI chip inventory. Furthermore, the Trump administration has placed the highest-tier AI chip H20, which Nvidia could previously export to China, on the export ban list, continuing to strengthen the blockade of China’s semiconductor supply chain.

In addition to the complete chips, the U.S. is also simultaneously restricting the export of key components such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), further compressing the growth space for China’s high-end AI technology.

China Accelerates Technological Independence

Amid the ongoing escalation of the U.S.-China trade war, technological sanctions, and tariff pressures, Chinese technology companies are accelerating the promotion of the “self-reliant and controllable” strategy, aiming to break through technological blockades. Huawei’s vigorous advancement of the Ascend series chip layout is an important part of the efforts of China’s semiconductor industry chain to strengthen itself.