Huawei’s Newest AI Chip Enters Testing with Major Tech Firms
Huawei Technologies is preparing to introduce its Ascend 910C artificial intelligence processor, a chip designed to rival Nvidia’s flagship H100 GPU, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
The company has already begun testing the Ascend 910C with leading Chinese tech firms, including ByteDance, Baidu, and China Mobile.
This move comes as Huawei seeks to establish itself as a formidable competitor in the global AI hardware market, despite ongoing U.S. sanctions that have restricted its access to advanced chipmaking technologies.
The Ascend 910C represents a significant upgrade over its predecessor, the 910B, which itself was roughly comparable to Nvidia’s A100—a powerful but now older-generation chip.
The 910C is expected to deliver substantially improved performance, potentially putting Huawei on the brink of a major breakthrough in the tech industry.
This development marks a notable turnaround for Huawei, whose CEO previously described the company’s situation as a “live or die” moment just five years ago.
High Demand and Ambitious Sales Targets
Demand for the Ascend 910C is already robust, with major Chinese tech companies lining up to place orders. The Wall Street Journal reports that Huawei is targeting the sale of 70,000 chips, with a total value approaching $2 billion. The company is reportedly gearing up to begin shipments as early as October.
However, some analysts remain skeptical about Huawei’s ability to meet these ambitious targets, given that U.S. sanctions continue to pose significant challenges to its manufacturing and supply chain capabilities.
U.S. sanctions, first imposed under the Trump administration, have had a dual effect on the AI chip market. While they have limited Nvidia’s ability to sell its most advanced chips to Chinese customers, they have also spurred a wave of domestic innovation.
Nvidia has responded by launching the H20, a version of its AI chip tailored for the Chinese market, but this product now faces stiff competition from homegrown alternatives like Huawei’s Ascend 910B and the upcoming 910C.
To further reduce its reliance on foreign technology, Huawei is investing heavily in domestic semiconductor production facilities.
The company is also collaborating with Chinese semiconductor firms to develop high-bandwidth memory chips within China.
The Competitive Landscape
Nvidia, for its part, is not standing still. The company is already developing its next-generation B20 chip, based on the Blackwell architecture, to comply with export restrictions and maintain its foothold in the Chinese market.
Intel is also making moves with its Gaudi 3 processors, specifically designed for the Chinese AI sector.
Huawei has remained tight-lipped about the exact specifications of the Ascend 910C. However, the company previously reported that the 910B was 80% more efficient than Nvidia’s A100 in AI training tasks and 20% more powerful in certain inference workloads.
For now, Huawei has not responded to requests for comment from Decrypt, but the stage is set for a new chapter in the global race for AI chip supremacy.