Huawei: Huawei steps up AI chip race with Ascend 910D, targeting Nvidia's high ground

China's Huawei Technologies is preparing to test its newest and most powerful AI processor, the Ascend 910D, positioning it as a key domestic alternative to Nvidia's high-end AI chips. The move highlights Huawei's growing ambition to challenge US tech supremacy, particularly in the wake of tightening export controls that have cut Chinese firms off from Nvidia's most advanced products.Huawei has reportedly approached several Chinese tech companies about testing the Ascend 910D, hoping the chip will outperform Nvidia's H100, the workhorse behind many cutting-edge AI systems globally. Initial samples of the 910D are expected to roll out as early as late May, with mass production plans following soon after, reported the Wall Street Journal.The launch comes on the heels of last week's news that Huawei is ramping up shipments of its 910C AI chip to Chinese customers. These moves signal Huawei's strategic acceleration in building a domestic AI hardware ecosystem, as Chinese companies scramble for local alternatives to banned US technologies.China's growing AI independence strategySince the US government-imposed restrictions on the sale of advanced AI chips - including Nvidia's flagship B200 and H100 - to Chinese buyers, companies like Huawei have taken center stage in Beijing's broader push for tech self-sufficiency.The development of the Ascend 910D fits squarely into China's broader national strategy to decouple from Western technology, particularly for critical sectors like semiconductors and AI.Chinese State news agency Xinhua reported that speaking at a Political Bureau study session on Friday, Chinese Premier Xi Jinping emphasized the urgency for the country to strengthen basic research and "master core technologies such as high-end chips and foundational software." He called for building an "independent, controllable, and collaboratively functioning AI foundational software and hardware system."Despite Washington's efforts to curb Chinese access to leading-edge AI hardware, Huawei has made significant progress. "Huawei's HiSilicon 910 series is a good outcome for China's local AI server chip ambitions, which were accelerated by US export restrictions," said Neil Shah, VP for research and partner at Counterpoint Research.Faisal Kawoosa, founder and lead analyst at Techarc, noted that China's longstanding belief in building its entire tech stack and ecosystem is now bearing fruit. "Huawei developing Ascend 910D is a step in this direction. It's a significant move and will open up a dual AI front on the global arena," he said. "Chinese tech companies have historically led mass adoption of technologies, and this could now accelerate global AI deployments as well."While countries like the US and India remain wary of Huawei, Kawoosa added that there is still "significant opportunity for Huawei to popularize its tech in markets where it remains welcome," delivering fully localized solutions without reliance on foreign suppliers.A powerful move - but how close to Nvidia?Despite the fanfare, Huawei's journey to rival Nvidia on technical grounds remains uphill. According to Shah, the Ascend 910D is a meaningful advancement but still lags behind Nvidia in critical areas."From an overall system-level design - compute, memory integration, networking scalability, and crucially, software orchestration - Nvidia remains three generations ahead," Shah explained.Huawei's Ascend 910D will reportedly ship with two generations old high-bandwidth memory (HBM) compared to Nvidia's latest offerings. Moreover, without an advanced CUDA-like ecosystem to optimize AI workloads across GPUs and networks, Huawei's chips will face inherent disadvantages in scalability and efficiency.Shah further pointed out that China's restrictions on acquiring cutting-edge semiconductor equipment, such as ASML's EUV lithography machines, could slow its ability to catch up. "It's going to take a few more years, but it will happen eventually," he said, adding that necessity has fueled innovation in China's AI sector, citing initiatives like DeepSeek for optimizing model training on hardware-constrained platforms.Meeting local demand firstIn the short term, Huawei's focus will remain firmly on the domestic Chinese market, where demand for Nvidia alternatives has surged following US sanctions.The yields on Huawei's AI chips are reportedly lower than those of global rivals, which makes it less economical for now to target large-scale markets outside China, Shah noted. Emerging markets could present opportunities eventually, but profitability might remain elusive in the near term.Still, Huawei's progress is undeniable - and symbolic. It underscores China's determination to control its AI destiny and adds pressure on the global AI ecosystem to brace for a bipolar infrastructure era, where Western and Chinese technologies evolve along increasingly separate paths.As geopolitical and technological tensions continue to escalate, Huawei's Ascend 910D is more than just another chip launch; it's another chapter in the unfolding global tech cold war.