Chinese Tech Giants Eye Huawei’s Latest AI Chip as Nvidia Alternative

Major Chinese technology companies ByteDance and Alibaba are planning to purchase Huawei's newest artificial intelligence processor after successful testing. The 950PR chip represents a breakthrough for Huawei as it seeks to compete with restricted Nvidia products in China's AI market.

Chinese technology behemoths ByteDance and Alibaba are preparing to purchase Huawei’s latest artificial intelligence processor following successful testing phases, according to three industry insiders familiar with the developments.

The positive reception represents a significant breakthrough for the Shenzhen-based telecommunications company. Previously, Huawei faced challenges convincing major private sector technology firms to adopt its existing flagship processor, the Ascend 910C, in substantial volumes despite government initiatives promoting domestic semiconductor usage.

Technology companies are now showing greater enthusiasm for the new 950PR processor due to its enhanced compatibility with Nvidia’s CUDA software platform and improved processing speeds, the sources revealed.

Huawei anticipates delivering approximately 750,000 units of the 950PR throughout this year, with sample units distributed to clients in January. Mass manufacturing is scheduled to commence next month, paving the way for full-scale deliveries during the latter half of 2024.

The timing of the 950PR’s introduction coincides with mounting challenges for Nvidia within the Chinese market. Washington has prohibited the sale of numerous Nvidia artificial intelligence processors in China due to concerns about potential military applications of the technology.

The previous Trump administration authorized sales of Nvidia’s H200 processors last year, which offer superior performance compared to currently restricted models, though with various limitations on quantities. Chinese regulators have also approved the H200, but the timeline for market entry remains uncertain.

Huawei first disclosed details about its new processor in September when presenting its comprehensive semiconductor strategy, promising to deliver some of the world’s most advanced computing platforms.

The 950PR will retail for approximately 50,000 yuan ($6,900) per unit with standard DDR memory, while an enhanced version featuring faster HBM memory will cost around 70,000 yuan, sources indicated.

Unlike previous models that relied exclusively on Huawei’s proprietary CANN software framework, the new processors enable Chinese technology companies’ developers to more seamlessly transition their existing models from Nvidia’s software ecosystem.

While the 950PR delivers only modest improvements in raw computational capability compared to the 910C, it excels specifically in inference processing tasks, which involve running trained artificial intelligence models to respond to queries and perform operations.

China’s demand for AI inference computing is experiencing rapid growth as the technology sector pivots from model creation to practical implementation, accelerated by widespread adoption of open-source AI platforms like OpenClaw.

The unnamed sources declined identification as they lack authorization to discuss the matter publicly. Huawei, ByteDance, and Alibaba did not respond to requests for comment.