Huawei Introduces New AI Chipset, Threatening Nvidia's Dominance In The Industry

By Thea Felicity

Mar 04, 2024 11:55 AM EST

(Photo : JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images))
Huawei CEO Richard Yu gives a press conference to present the new Huawei Balong 5G01, a 3GPP 5G commercial chipset on February 25, 2018 in Barcelona, on the eve of the inauguration of the Mobile World Congress (MWC). The Mobile World Congress, the world's biggest mobile fair, is held in Barcelona from February 26 to March 1.

Huawei is stepping up as a potential rival to Nvidia in the AI chip sector, and Nvidia is unhappy about it.

Upon Huawei's announcement of their AI Chipset, SMCP revealed that Nvidia is focusing on the Ascend 910B chip, which is gaining traction as an alternative to Nvidia's GPUs. 

To make matters worse for Nvidia, they are facing export restrictions in China at the moment. It is the same place where Huawei's stronghold is a lot stronger, potentially toppling their dominance in the chipset-making industry.

READ NEXT: Nvidia to Launch a New Slower Gaming Chip in China to Comply With US Export Controls

In the case of Nvidia, it seems their luck is not on the table. Huawei faced limitations primarily due to US sanctions imposed in 2019, which restricted its semiconductor development. These sanctions severely impacted Huawei's smartphone business and constrained its access to advanced chip technologies. 

Their AI chip design and production were severely affected, particularly in sourcing key components and technologies necessary for chipset fabrication. 

Recently, Huawei's semiconductor capabilities were further restricted by the trade blacklist imposed by the US Commerce Department, per Yahoo News. This, therefore, limited its access to essential resources and technologies required for chipset development and manufacturing.

Fortunately, partnerships with local suppliers like Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) have boosted Huawei's chip development. 

Now, Huawei is not the first to try to compete with Nvidia. According to VCPost, last year, AMD revealed their new AI chips that can parallel that of Nvidia. True to their words, their shares surged after the announcement. Unfortunately, they were taken over a few weeks later.

READ MORE: Nvidia Becomes Third-Largest US Company After Beating Google's Alphabet in Market Cap

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