Huawei’s AI Chip: A Potential Disruption to Nvidia’s Reign

Huawei Technologies is gearing up to test its latest artificial intelligence chip, the Ascend 910D, with the goal of challenging Nvidia’s stronghold in the AI hardware market, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The company has started reaching out to Chinese tech firms for initial trials of the Ascend 910D’s features, with the first shipments of the chip anticipated to arrive by late May.

Sources indicate that Huawei is confident the 910D may surpass Nvidia’s H100 chip, which has been the preferred choice for AI training in China.

This development marks a significant step in China’s efforts toward technological self-reliance

• In 2022, the U.S. imposed a ban on the sale of Nvidia’s H100 and other advanced AI chips to China, further restricting the country’s access to high-end technology.
• The progress of Huawei illustrates that U.S. sanctions, while challenging, have not entirely thwarted China’s ambitions in the semiconductor sector.
• Should Huawei succeed with its 910D chip, it could provide Chinese AI enterprises with a domestic alternative to U.S. technology, marking a strategic advancement.

Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash

Huawei’s AI Initiative

Previous Huawei Ascend chips (910B and 910C) gained attention but ultimately fell short compared to Nvidia’s leading offerings.

Nevertheless, Huawei has been rapidly expanding its capabilities, constructing robust AI clusters such as CloudMatrix 384, meant to rival Nvidia’s latest server technologies.

Despite challenges posed by global supply chain disruptions and restrictions on access to advanced manufacturing technologies, Huawei has utilized creative engineering strategies — including the use of older HBM2 memory — to continue making progress.

Industry Implications

• While Nvidia remains a global leader, its dominance