Huawei technologies is set to test its new artificial intelligence processor Ascend 910D, aiming to compete with Nvidia. The first delivery of this chip would reportedly commence by the end of May with Huawei having already solicited Chinese tech companies to conduct technical feasibility trials, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The testing phase is currently in its early stages, and extensive trials will be required before the chip can be rolled out to customers. Huawei’s goal is to offer a more powerful alternative to Nvidia’s H100 chip, which has been widely used for AI model training since its release in 2022. Earlier versions of Huawei’s processors, the Ascend 910B and 910C, laid the groundwork for this latest effort.
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This comes amid efforts by the U.S. to restrict China’s developments in the semiconductor sector. The Trump administration has cut China off from Nvidia’s most advanced AI products, citing concerns about China’s technological development, particularly advances for its military. U.S. authorities banned the sale of the H100 chip in 2022 before it was even launched.
Nevertheless, Huawei managed to show resilience by providing some of the most promising alternatives to Nvidia. The company also managed to launch the high-end Mate 60 smartphone in 2023, despite being on a U.S. trade blacklist for six years.
Huawei is not the only company which aims to compete with Nvidia. Nvidia competitor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has recently expanded its U.S. operations, with its key processor chips soon to be made at TSMC’s new production site in Arizona, marking the first time that its products will be manufactured in the United States. Nvidia is also moving towards increasing its chip production in the U.S., with plans to plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S.-made chips and electronics over the next four years.