China’s Huawei Technologies is close to introducing a new chip for artificial intelligence use, overcoming U.S. sanctions to challenge Nvidia in the Chinese market. Chinese internet companies and telecommunications operators have been testing Huawei’s latest processor, called Ascend 910C, in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. Huawei told potential clients that the new chip is comparable to Nvidia’s H100, which was introduced last year and isn’t directly available in China, the people said. Huawei’s ability to keep advancing in chips is the latest sign of how the company has managed to break through U.S.-erected obstacles and develop Chinese alternatives to products made by the U.S. and its allies. Aided by billions of dollars in state support, it has become a national champion in areas including AI and a key part of Beijing’s endeavor to “delete” American technologies. Still, Huawei has run into production delays in its current chips, according to the people. It faces the prospect of further U.S. restrictions that could deprive it of machine components and the latest memory chips used in AI hardware. Companies including TikTok parent ByteDance, search-engine giant Baidu and state-owned telecommunications carrier China Mobile are in early discussions about obtaining the 910C, the people said. Initial negotiations between Huawei and potential customers indicate that orders are likely to surpass 70,000 chips, with a total value of around $2 billion, they said. Huawei aims to start shipping as soon as October, the people said. They cautioned that final purchases may differ from initial plans and the delivery schedule may change. A Huawei representative declined to comment. Huawei has been on the U.S. entity list since 2019, signifying that Washington considers the company a national-security threat. That has blocked it from using factories in places such as Taiwan to manufacture its chips and hindered access to critical components and manufacturing equipment.
Full exclusive : China’s Huawei is not only circumventing the United States AI Chip sanctions but also posing a challenge to NVIDIA’s AI chip hegemony.
