Chinese tech giant Huawei challenged American Nvidia by developing its own AI chip Ascend 910C

It is known that the US and China are competing for hegemony in the field of technology. Paraphrasing a well-known saying in the modern context, we can say: whoever monopolizes the market of AI chips and 5G technologies owns the world. The technology has become a stumbling block between the US and China, as 5G is key to the future of mobile communications and the Internet of Things. In addition, the US is concerned about the possibility of espionage through 5G infrastructure.
In this context, the implacable competition between the technological giants of the two superpowers – the American Nvidia and the Chinese Huawei – looks quite natural. Currently, despite the sanctions imposed by America, Huawei is preparing to launch a new AI chip called the Ascend 910C, which will challenge Nvidia’s H100, according to global media, including WSJ Exclusive | Huawei Readies New Chip to Challenge Nvidia, Surmounting U.S. Sanctions – WSJ.
A success story due to the ability to resist limitations
In the spring of 2019, the United States put Huawei on the “black list” of suppliers, and President Trump signed a decree prohibiting American companies from cooperating with Chinese manufacturers. After the company was included in the American “black list”, Huawei was forced to look for alternative solutions for its smartphones and other products. In response, the H100 – Nvidia’s powerful AI chip – has faced restrictions in China over national security concerns.
Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, talks about his company’s clash with America in military language. “It’s time to take up arms, mount horses and go into battle.” He urged employees to tie ropes to imaginary Huawei tanks and help drag them onto the battlefield.
Finally, Huawei has come up with the Ascend 910C, an upcoming AI processor that is completely competitive with its H100 counterpart from Nvidia. Huawei plans to ship the chip as early as October. Potential customers, including Chinese internet companies and telecommunications providers, are already testing the Ascend 910C chip, and TikTok parent ByteDance, Baidu and China Mobile are among those in talks to buy it.
However, Huawei is facing delays in the production of its current chips, the WSJ reported, adding that the company also faces the prospect of further US sanctions that could affect its ability to source machine components and memory chips for AI.
Last year, an analysis of the Huawei Mate 60 Pro smartphone revealed a chip made by top Chinese chipmaker SMIC that appeared to support 5G, despite US sanctions aimed at cutting the Chinese tech giant off from the technology.
How 5G will change life
So, the competition between technological giants is quite understandable, because the price of the question is world leadership in this most powerful and most promising market. Therefore, it is impossible to overestimate the role of the fifth generation of mobile communication, because 5G improves the quality of telecommunications, which is indispensable for the development of the automotive industry, retail trade, manufacturing and healthcare. Yes, this protocol improves communication between cars and infrastructure, and also improves safety, autonomy and efficiency of transport.
Of course, 5G will optimize product monitoring, customer service and customize retail offers. This technology simplifies the creation of smart stores and augmented reality for customers, provides equipment monitoring, process automation and production optimization.
Importantly, 5G improves the accessibility and efficiency of healthcare services by supporting remote consultations, medical applications and patient monitoring.
Among other things, the technology provides high data transfer rates and low latency, which is important for real-time IoT devices interacting with each other in the Internet of Things. In addition, 5G allows more devices to be connected at the same time. This is important for scaling IoT networks and supporting a large number of devices. Finally, 5G facilitates the development of other technologies – AI, augmented and virtual reality.
The Internet of Things promises a smart life
It is likely that the Internet of Things – IoT – will play a key role in the future of technological development. Think for yourself. IoT allows devices to communicate with each other and share data over the Internet. Thanks to this, our devices become “smart” and can automatically interact with the environment. IoT can be applied in the development of a smart home, smart city or smart industry.
Among other things, IoT allows us to control lighting, temperature, security and electrical appliances in the home through a mobile application. While moving around the city, track transport, optimize your route, control air and water pollution. On the scale of industry, the capabilities of the technology are even wider – equipment monitoring, production automation, failure prediction, etc.
In the future, thanks to 5G, fast data transmission will allow IoT devices to work in real time, and artificial intelligence will help analyze large volumes of data, enabling innovation and optimization. In general, IoT paves the way for “smart” systems that make our lives easier and improve efficiency.
Success is not due to, but in spite of
So, China has once again shown its ability to succeed not because of, but against. And Huawei has demonstrated its ability to resist American efforts to limit its access to advanced technologies. According to experts, the Ascend 910B processor has impressive characteristics compared to its counterpart from Nvidia. While Huawei lags behind in model-training software, its chips are becoming competitive thanks to sanctions that make it difficult to export the most powerful AI chips to China.
Tatyana Morarash