Huawei Technologies has embarked on a bold move to counter Nvidia’s dominance in the AI chip sector and address recent U.S. sanctions.
The tech giant has begun testing its latest AI chips, the Ascend 910C, with various Chinese companies, positioning these chips as formidable alternatives to Nvidia’s top-tier offerings.
Reuters indicate that Huawei has dispatched its Ascend 910C chips, an upgraded version of the popular Ascend 910B, to potential clients within China, especially to firms seeking to move away from reliance on Nvidia products.
This development follows U.S. restrictions imposed on Nvidia, barring the company from selling its advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) to China.
These sanctions have pushed Chinese firms to accelerate efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in semiconductor technology.
The Ascend 910B chips, which Huawei claims match the performance of Nvidia’s A100 models, have already gained traction among Chinese firms.
Huawei reports that its Ascend series has been instrumental in training numerous top-performing large language models across China.
The newly introduced Ascend 910C chips are set to further this legacy.
Sources confirm that Huawei has offered samples to major Chinese server companies for hardware testing and configuration.
These firms, which have been significant customers of Nvidia, now have access to a domestic alternative.
According to reports, the Chinese firm plans to ship these chips starting October 2024, with pre-orders nearing 70,000 units, valued at approximately $2 billion.
Despite maintaining a tight lid on the development process and capabilities of its chips, Huawei aims to strengthen its position in the domestic market amid the U.S. restrictions.
Last year, China stood as Nvidia’s third-largest market, showcasing a substantial demand for advanced semiconductors—a demand Huawei intends to meet.
Nvidia, on the other hand, has made efforts to circumvent these restrictions by introducing new models like the A800 and H800.
However, these too faced subsequent bans.
Nevertheless, Chinese firms have managed to procure Nvidia’s chips through alternate means, with high markups on local online marketplaces.
Additionally, Nvidia has continued to cater to the Chinese market with iterations of its high-performance GPUs.
This escalating competition between Huawei and Nvidia could significantly impact the landscape of AI technology in China.
Both firms are poised to continuously innovate, leading to potentially more upgrades, improved performance, and competitive pricing for clients.
Huawei’s rotating chairman, Eric Xu Zhijun, recently highlighted the company’s commitment to building a robust support system for the domestic AI industry, with two computing businesses established over the past five years to meet enterprises’ AI infrastructure needs.
As Huawei advances with its Ascend 910C chips, the tech world will keenly observe whether these efforts translate into a substantial shift in the balance of power in the AI chip market, especially in light of geopolitical influences and ongoing technological races.