- Huawei to begin mass shipments of Ascend 910C AI chips as early as next month.
- Chip offers performance comparable to Nvidia’s H100, using dual 910B integration.
- U.S. export restrictions on Nvidia chips accelerate demand for domestic alternatives.
- Huawei’s entry may reshape China’s AI hardware landscape.
Huawei Technologies is poised to start mass shipments of its advanced Ascend 910C artificial intelligence (AI) chip to Chinese clients as early as next month, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. Limited shipments have already taken place.
This rollout comes at a critical juncture for Chinese AI firms, many of which are urgently seeking alternatives to Nvidia’s H20 chip—once widely available in China until recent U.S. export restrictions were imposed.
A Domestic Rival to Nvidia’s H100
The 910C, a graphics processing unit (GPU), is not a radical technological leap but rather an architectural evolution. Sources indicate it achieves performance comparable to Nvidia’s H100 by integrating two 910B chips into a single package. This advanced configuration reportedly doubles both compute power and memory, while also enhancing support for a broader range of AI workloads.
Huawei has not officially confirmed the shipment plans or specifications, calling such details “speculation.”
U.S. Restrictions Drive Demand for Chinese Alternatives
As Washington tightens export controls to curtail China’s technological progress—especially in military-related AI development—Huawei and other Chinese GPU developers like Moore Threads and Iluvatar CoreX are stepping in to fill the gap.
Paul Triolo of the Albright Stonebridge Group said Huawei’s 910C is now expected to become the hardware of choice for Chinese AI developers, especially for model training and inference tasks.
Manufacturing Challenges and TSMC Involvement
Late last year, Huawei reportedly sent out samples and began accepting orders for the 910C. While it’s unclear which firms are producing the chip in bulk, some of the components are being manufactured by China’s SMIC using its N+2 7nm process. However, yield rates remain low.
Interestingly, some 910C chips appear to include semiconductors made by Taiwan’s TSMC for a third-party Chinese firm, Sophgo. The U.S. Commerce Department is currently investigating this connection. TSMC maintains it has complied with all regulatory requirements and has not supplied Huawei since September 2020.
Huawei, for its part, denies using TSMC-made Sophgo chips, while Sophgo has not commented on the matter.
As geopolitical tensions reshape the global semiconductor landscape, Huawei’s 910C could mark a pivotal step in China’s push for AI self-sufficiency.
Did you subscribe to our daily Newsletter?
It’s Free Click here to Subscribe!
Source: Reuters
