In response to US restrictions on the sale of high-powered graphics chips (GPUs) in China, the country has unveiled the Ascend 910C artificial intelligence (AI) chip from Huawei, which is said to offer similar performance to NVIDIA. The US has imposed limitations on the computing power of graphics cards that can be sold in China, aiming to restrict the use of AI systems for military purposes. Consequently, China has developed its AI-focused chips, with the Ascend 910C from Huawei attracting considerable attention due to its comparable power to NVIDIA.
Several major Chinese companies, including ByteDance, Baidu, and China Mobile, are reportedly testing and evaluating the AI chip. The chip is currently in the final testing phase before mass production is authorized. As per reports, Huawei is expected to ship the first batch of Ascend 910C chips in October 2024, with production slated to commence no later than early September.
The Ascend 910C aims to address the gap left by NVIDIA following US export restrictions. While NVIDIA had previously developed three specialized chips for the Chinese market, they were deemed to be of inferior quality and failed to meet industry demands.
According to sources, Huawei has received orders for over 70,000 Ascend 910C chips, potentially translating to a value of approximately $2 billion. This signifies a strong start for the Chinese company and aligns with the expectations of industry leaders.
Huawei had previously promised that the Ascend 910C would be 80% more efficient than NVIDIA in AI training tasks and 20% more powerful in certain inference tasks. While the specific improvements and optimizations implemented by the company remain undisclosed, achieving performance on par with NVIDIA would signify a significant advancement in AI technology for the company.