The chips are developed early and undergo a series of tests before being prepared for use by the customer.
China’s Huawei Technologies is preparing to test the latest and most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) processors. This is what the Wall Street Journal reports as they hope to replace some of the high-end products of US chip giant Nvidia.
Huawei approached a Chinese tech company on testing the technical feasibility of a new chip called the Ascend 910d, the US newspaper reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the issue.
Chinese companies hope that the latest iteration of ASCEND AI processors will be stronger than California-based NVIDIA’s H100, with reports added that they plan to receive the first batch of processors as early as late May. Previous versions are called 910B and 910C.
Interviewed people show that the chip is in early development and undergoes a series of tests to assess its performance and prepare it for customer use.
Reuters news agency reported that Huawei is scheduled to launch large-scale shipments of advanced 910C artificial intelligence chips to Chinese customers next month.
Huawei and its Chinese peers have struggled for years to build a top-end chip that can compete with Nvidia’s products for their training models.
Washington cut China off from Nvidia’s most advanced AI products, including the flagship B200 chips, in the hopes of limiting China’s technological development, particularly military progress.
US authorities banned the sale of H100 chips in 2022.
Nonetheless, Huawei succeeded despite US leadership in the technology sector and attempts to prevent China’s development. The deep Shenzhen-based company has developed some of the country’s most promising alternatives to Nvidia’s AI chips. This is an important part of Beijing’s strategy to foster a self-sufficient semiconductor industry.
Huawei showed resilience to US restrictions by launching its high-end Mate 60 smartphone in 2023 despite having served on the US trade blacklist for nearly six years. Introducing the mobile phone when then-Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, equipped with domestically produced processors, shocked the US government.
Nvidia declined to comment, but Huawei did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.