AI War | Huawei plans to launch new AI chip to challenge Nvidia

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Analysis shows that Ascend 910C is better than B20 Support EJ Tech

go through Hong Kong Economic Times August 14, 2024

The competition between China and the United States in the chip field continues. Huawei is reportedly about to launch a new artificial intelligence (AI) chip to challenge Nvidia’s position in the mainland market. The Wall Street Journal quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Chinese technology companies and telecom operators have been testing Huawei’s latest Ascend 910C chip. Huawei has also told potential customers that the product is comparable to Nvidia’s H100, which was launched last year but cannot be directly obtained in China.

The report pointed out that with billions of dollars of Chinese funding, Huawei has become a leading local company in fields such as AI, and is also one of the keys to Beijing’s efforts to “get rid of” American technology. However, people familiar with the matter said that Huawei’s current chip production is delayed because the company is likely to face further US sanctions and cannot obtain parts for production equipment and the latest memory chips used in AI hardware.

Analysis shows that Ascend 910C is better than B20

Including TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, Baidu (09888) and China Mobile (00941) are currently in preliminary negotiations with Huawei to obtain the Ascend 910. According to preliminary estimates, the order may exceed 70,000 chips with a total value of approximately US$2 billion. Huawei is striving to start shipping as early as October this year, but the final procurement situation may change and the delivery time may be adjusted.

On the other hand, under the US sanctions, Chinese companies can only purchase the “downgraded” H20 chips from Nvidia. On the contrary, Nvidia’s customers in the US, such as OpenAI, Amazon, and Google, will soon be able to use the latest Blackwell chips and GB200 series, which are several times more powerful than H20. It is known that Nvidia is researching a chip B20 tailor-made for China, but if the US strengthens sanctions, it is unlikely that the US will agree to export this chip to China.

Dylan Patel, an analyst at industry research firm SemiAnalysis, believes that the Ascend 910C is a symbol of Huawei’s technological progress and even performs better than Nvidia’s B20. Once Huawei successfully produces new chips and Nvidia is unable to sell new chips to China, it may quickly lose market share in China.