NVIDIA sees Huawei as a competitor in AI chip manufacturing

NVIDIA’s CEO, Jensen Huang, recognizes Huawei as a “formidable” contender in China’s rapidly evolving artificial intelligence market, highlighting the company’s significant progress in semiconductor technology.

Despite facing a series of trade restrictions from the US regarding the import of advanced chip manufacturing equipment, Huawei has made substantial advancements, particularly with its Kirin 9000s SoC and AI-focused Ascend chip offerings. For those unfamiliar, Ascend chips are a series of AI chips developed by the Chinese giant placed as a competitor to NVIDIA’s AI chips.

Huang’s acknowledgment comes as Huawei‘s Ascend chips pose a challenge to NVIDIA’s dominance in the Chinese AI sector. The Ascend 910 chip, built on a 7nm process node, competes directly with NVIDIA’s A100 and A800 GPUs. It reportedly offers comparable performance levels for inference and training tasks. However, the actual real-world performance of Huawei’s chips remains to be fully evaluated.

Despite Huawei’s strides, NVIDIA maintains a strong position in the market

Chinese firms predominantly utilize Ascend chips for low-inferencing tasks. It indicates that NVIDIA’s products still hold sway in more demanding AI applications. Additionally, NVIDIA is reportedly developing new AI chips tailored for the Chinese market, targeting the low-to-mid AI performance segment. These developments suggest that NVIDIA is aiming to counter Huawei’s growing influence in the AI sector.

While Huawei’s progress is noteworthy, it’s essential to recognize that NVIDIA remains a leader in AI hardware technology globally. The company’s extensive portfolio and established reputation continue to attract clients worldwide. However, Huawei has emerged as a significant player in AI hardware manufacturing, at least inside China. It underscores the dynamic nature of the AI landscape, with competition driving innovation and technological advancements.

In conclusion, while Huawei poses a credible challenge to NVIDIA’s position in China’s AI sector, the latter remains well-positioned to maintain its leadership role. With ongoing developments in AI chip technology, the competition between these two tech giants is likely to increase, ultimately benefiting consumers and driving progress in the field of artificial intelligence.