Huawei to Test Advanced AI Chip

Huawei plans to test an AI processor in the early development stage, which is targeted at becoming a replacement for Nvidia chips facing export controls to China. The Chinese company is lining up customers to test the technical feasibility of the Ascend 910D chip, which it is positioning to be more powerful than Nvidia’s H100 chip.

The first samples should be released this month. Huawei is also scheduled to start shipments of its 910C AI chip to domestic customers in May. In August 2023, Huawei sent shockwaves across the industry by unveiling the Mate 60 Pro, powered by its Kirin 9000s chipset. Using a homegrown main processor, designed by the company’s unit HiSilicon and produced by SMIC using a 7nm process, was promoted in China as a major win over US export controls.

Since then, the US Department of Commerce has added several new restrictions on the sale of AI chips to China. Following the first US export curbs on AI chips, Nvidia reconfigured its high-end H100 for the Chinese market. Last month, the US also required an export license for the lower-end H20 chip designed for China.