Chinese tech giant Huawei has reportedly developed an AI-specific chip that competes with the performance of Nvidia’s AI chips.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) cited sources claiming that Huawei has created an AI chip comparable to Nvidia’s popular H100.
The 910C chip, currently under testing by major potential customers including ByteDance (the parent company of TikTok), China’s largest search engine, Baidu, and the state-owned telecom giant China Mobile, is generating significant interest.
Negotiations between Huawei and these customers suggest that the order volume could surpass 70,000 units, with the total transaction value estimated at around $2 billion. Huawei is targeting a formal launch of the 910C chip in October.
Following its smartphone success, Huawei is intensifying its efforts in the in-house production of AI-specific chips. Despite the U.S. government sanctions over the past five years, Huawei has overcome initial challenges and is leading the charge for China’s technological self-sufficiency.
Last August, Huawei surprised the U.S. by equipping its smartphones with a self-developed 7-nanometer chip.
American media outlets, including the Washington Post (WP), reported that the latest Huawei phone, the Mate 60 Pro, utilized a 7 nm chip produced in China. This demonstrates the failure of U.S. efforts to curb advancements in new technology by blocking imports and production of cutting-edge semiconductors.
The 7-nanometer process used in Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro is comparable to the technology found in the chips used in the 2018 Apple iPhone.
Analysts have highlighted that this achievement underscores China’s ability to design and produce high-performance products independently of U.S. technology, even if they don’t match the latest Western models. This represents a notable technological milestone for China.
Despite this development, Nvidia’s stock surged more than 6% on the same day, driven by significant signs of slowing U.S. inflation, which sparked a broader rally in the American stock market.
