Huawei is reportedly sampling its new and advanced Ascend 910C AI chip with the top Chinese firms as the region moves away from dependency on NVIDIA.
Huawei Looks To Capitalize on NVIDIA's Situation By Offering A Revamped AI Chip, Targeting Chinese Tech Firms
China is one of the nations at the forefront of AI developments, and with that, the demand for adequate computing power has soared to new heights. Local AI tech giants, notably ByteDance, Alibaba, and Baidu, are looking for every possible alternative to expand their arsenal of computing power, but given the constant revision in the US trade policies, acquiring chips from NVIDIA is no longer a viable option for them. This point has been capitalized by domestic AI chip manufacturers like Huawei, which are now moving towards offering upgraded options to clients.
SCMP reports that Chinese giant Huawei has now offered samples of its new Ascend 910C AI chips to domestic AI tech giants, who are also said to be major NVIDIA customers. While we are unaware of the specifics of the Huawei Ascend 910C AI chip, it is said to offer decent upgrades compared to its previous counterpart, and according to an earlier report, it is said to be comparable to NVIDIA's H100 AI GPU in terms of the raw performance.
This development comes when NVIDIA is on the verge of witnessing another US trade policy revision, which will likely result in the ban of the firm's H20 AI accelerators, which are designed specifically for the Chinese markets. If this development takes place, it will be a vital time for Huawei to make a stride in the industry, given that domestic tech giants are already "frustrated" by the growing uncertainty surrounding the purchase of AI equipment. Switching towards an in-house AI solution seems the only viable option, and Huawei will likely capitalize on this.
It will be interesting to see how the situation pans out for Huawei and the local AI markets, given that previously when Huawei Ascend 910B was in hot demand, tech giants were bothered by Huawei's "confined" production lines, which is why they ultimately switched back to NVIDIA. Given that Huawei manages to cater to the supply issue, we are very well looking at NVIDIA getting replaced.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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