Tech war: Huawei’s AI chip capabilities under intense scrutiny after market leader Nvidia taps it as potential rival

Huawei’s Ascend 910B chip, already available on the mainland, is said to be on par in terms of computing power with Nvidia’s sought-after A100 GPU

The Chinese-developed chip can compete with Nvidia’s A100 in terms of powering AI algorithms, according to semiconductor research firm SemiAnalysis

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Attendees visit Huawei Technologies’ stand at trade show MWC Barcelona in Spain on February 27, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:00pm, 3 Mar 2024

The closely-guarded semiconductor capabilities of US-sanctioned Huawei Technologies have come under fresh scrutiny after Nvidia identified the Chinese telecommunications equipment giant as a potential rival in artificial intelligence (AI) chips for the first time.

With Nvidia currently unable to ship its advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) to mainland China under Washington’s export restrictions, a new AI chipset from Huawei has emerged as a replacement for the US firm’s Chinese products, industry insiders and analysts say.

The Huawei Ascend 910B, already available via distributor channels on the mainland, is considered by some industry participants to be on par in terms of computing power with Nvidia’s sought-after A100 data-centre GPUs. Huawei has not made any public comment on the 910B.

The Ascend 910B is believed to succeed the Ascend 910, which was released by Huawei in August 2019, three months after it was put on a trade blacklist by the US Commerce Department. The chip can compete with Nvidia’s A100 in terms of powering AI algorithms, according to Dylan Patel, chief analyst at San Francisco-based semiconductor research firm SemiAnalysis.

A Chinese flag is seen near the logo atop Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp’s headquarters in Shanghai. The country’s top contract chip maker is said to be the supplier of Huawei Technologies’ new artificial intelligence chipset, the Ascend 910B. Photo: Bloomberg

“It [the Ascend 910B] is a bit above the A100 theoretically,” Patel said, adding that the chip is fabricated by China’s top foundry, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), on a 7-nanometre process.