Huawei is ready to go head-to-head with Nvidia.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) , Huawei Technologies is preparing to test a new generation AI processor called the Ascend 910D, expected to replace some of Nvidia's flagship products in the Chinese market.

The Ascend 910D is still in its early stages of development and needs to undergo many rounds of testing to evaluate its performance. Huawei has high expectations for this chip series, aiming to meet Beijing's efforts to achieve technological self-reliance in the semiconductor sector.

Previously, on April 9th, Nvidia confirmed that the US government required the company to obtain a special license if it wanted to sell AI chips, including the H20 series, to China and certain other markets.

The latest restrictions have raised concerns about Nvidia's growth in the billion-person market. The H20, a line of chips designed by Nvidia specifically to meet export control regulations, is now also subject to restrictions. According to the American chipmaker, revenue from the H20 line could reach $12-14 billion annually before the embargo.

Amid restrictions on Nvidia, Huawei and its domestic rivals are scrambling to increase their market share. Photo: Reuters

As for Huawei, it is considered one of China's "champions" in the domestic semiconductor race. Despite being on the US trade blacklist for nearly six years, the corporation has demonstrated resilience, most notably with the launch of the Mate 60 smartphone in 2023, which uses its own manufactured chip.

However, developing AI chips is not an easy task. According to the WSJ , although Huawei once advertised the Ascend 910C chip as equivalent to the Nvidia H100, its actual performance was still inferior. The company also faced difficulties in large-scale production due to no longer having access to leading chip manufacturing partners such as TSMC, while SMIC – China's number one chip foundry – lacked advanced machinery.

In addition, the US is tightening access to critical components such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM), an essential element for high-performance AI chips.

In this context, Huawei shifted its strategy: instead of focusing solely on increasing the power of individual chips, the company developed a system connecting multiple chips. In April, Huawei introduced CloudMatrix 384 – a computing system connecting 384 Ascend 910C chips. According to some experts, CloudMatrix 384 can outperform a system using 72 Nvidia Blackwell chips under certain conditions, although it consumes more power.

The US-China trade tensions are creating a vacuum for domestic competitors. In early April, the US government required Nvidia to obtain a special license if it wanted to export AI chips to China. The H20 chip – a limited edition for the Chinese market – was placed under scrutiny, potentially costing Nvidia up to $5.5 billion in revenue.

Nvidia acknowledges that China now contributes only about half of its revenue before the ban, while domestic competition, particularly from Huawei and Cambricon Technologies, is intensifying.

Huawei is ready to ship more than 800,000 Ascend 910B and 910C chips to customers in China, including state-owned carriers and private technology companies such as ByteDance. Some partners are also negotiating to increase orders for 910C chips to replace Nvidia products.

The Chinese government is also encouraging data centers and AI developers to increase their use of domestically produced chips, reducing their dependence on American technology.

Despite significant progress, challenges remain. Connecting hundreds of thousands of chips in a system requires a stable network infrastructure, optimized software, and complex troubleshooting techniques—something not easily achieved even by the world's largest technology companies.

In addition, the Ascend 910D must prove its ability to truly outperform the Nvidia H100 in rigorous testing before it can convince customers on a full scale.

The AI race between China and the US is entering a new phase, with increasingly stringent technological barriers and efforts to achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency being elevated to a national priority.

Source: https://znews.vn/huawei-san-ready-to-fight-nvidia-post1549473.html