Huawei Technologies is positioning itself as a significant competitor to Nvidia in the AI chip market with its new Ascend 910C chips. This move comes as Chinese firms seek alternatives to Nvidia's products due to US sanctions.
Huawei has begun supplying the Ascend 910C chips to clients looking to reduce their reliance on Nvidia, particularly after the US banned the sale of Nvidia's A100 and H100 chips to China. The company claims that the performance of the Ascend 910C is comparable to Nvidia's H100, which has been crucial in the AI sector.
Huawei's chips have already been instrumental in training many of China's leading large language models. The company aims to capture a larger share of the semiconductor market amid rising demand for alternatives to Nvidia.
Despite Nvidia's efforts to introduce alternative models like the A800 and H800, US restrictions have created challenges for the company. Nvidia plans to ship over one million new H20 GPUs to China in 2024, but Huawei's aggressive entry into the market could significantly impact Nvidia's position.
With nearly 70,000 orders worth approximately $2 billion, Huawei is set to begin shipping the Ascend 910C chips in October 2024, marking a pivotal moment in the Chinese semiconductor landscape.