Huawei announced its long-term chip plans on Thursday, detailing the launch of some of the world’s most powerful computing systems. This signals China’s push to decrease its reliance on foreign semiconductor suppliers such as Nvidia. The revelation breaks years of secrecy surrounding Huawei’s chip business.
The company outlined timelines for its Ascend artificial intelligence chips and Kunpeng server chips, escalating the stakes in the US-China rivalry for tech supremacy. Eric Xu, Huawei’s current rotating chairman, stated the company now possesses proprietary high-bandwidth memory. This technology is currently dominated by South Korea’s SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.
“We will follow a 1-year release cycle and double compute with each release,” Mr. Xu told the annual Huawei Connect conference in Shanghai. China has recently intensified efforts targeting Nvidia, the world’s leading AI chipmaker, while promoting domestic chip manufacturing.
Chinese authorities on Monday accused Nvidia of violating the country’s anti-monopoly law. Top tech firms were also reportedly ordered to halt purchases of Nvidia’s AI chips and cancel existing orders, according to a Financial Times report and an informed source.
Huawei’s announcement appears strategically timed ahead of a Friday meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. This meeting follows recent talks by US and Chinese trade negotiators.
Alfred Wu, associate professor at the National University of Singapore, commented, “China is trying to say that they're doing very well on many fronts ... Xi Jinping will be more confident when speaking with Donald Trump.”
Huawei first announced plans to enter chipmaking in 2018. The company ceased public discussion of these efforts after the US sanctioned it in 2019, alleging a national security risk, a charge Huawei denies.
Analysts note Huawei has since become a leader in China’s domestic semiconductor industry development. Huawei launched its latest AI chip, the Ascend 910C, in the first quarter of this year.
Its successor, the Ascend 950, will launch next year and come in two variants, Mr. Xu said. The Ascend 960 version will follow in 2027, with the Ascend 970 in 2028.
Additionally, Huawei plans to introduce new computing power supernodes designed for high-speed chip interconnection. These nodes are rack systems containing numerous chips, which are then grouped into clusters.
The Atlas 950 will launch in the fourth quarter of 2026, supporting 8,192 Ascend chips. Mr. Xu expressed confidence that the Atlas 950 “will far exceed its counterparts across all major metrics.”
The Atlas 960, supporting 15,488 Ascend chips, is scheduled for launch in the fourth quarter of 2027. These supernodes succeed the Atlas 900, also known as the CloudMatrix 384, which uses 384 of Huawei’s latest 910C chips.
Wang Shen, data centre infrastructure practice lead at Omdia, stated, “Huawei is leveraging its strengths in networking, along with China’s advantages in power supply, to aggressively push supernodes and offset lagging chip manufacturing.”
New versions of Huawei’s Kunpeng server chip will also launch in 2026 and 2028, Mr. Xu confirmed. Despite advancements by Huawei and other Chinese chip firms, engineers at Chinese tech companies indicate Nvidia’s chips perform better.
The extent of China’s access to Nvidia’s world-leading chips has been a significant point of contention. The US implemented export controls, allowing Nvidia to sell only downgraded versions, though some severe restrictions have been recently eased.
Washington also imposed export controls preventing firms like Huawei from utilising advanced US chip manufacturing technology. Tilly Zhang, an analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, suggested Huawei’s public display of strength reflects that domestic advanced chip manufacturing capacity is no longer a significant constraint for marketing the product.
Ms. Zhang added it also shows growing confidence that US export controls are not genuinely threatening this process anymore. Chinese semiconductor firms saw a 3.4% rise after the Financial Times reported that major Chinese tech firms had been ordered to cease purchases of Nvidia AI chips.
A person in China’s chip distribution sector stated their company recently received an oral order to halt buying from Nvidia. They were informed distributors could now only sell stockpiled Nvidia AI chips. Asked about the reported ban, China’s foreign ministry said it is willing to maintain dialogue with all parties involved to keep global supply chains stable.
Huawei unveiled a multi-year road map for its Ascend AI chips, Kunpeng server chips, and Atlas computing power supernodes.
The company claims proprietary high-bandwidth memory and plans to double compute power with each annual release.
This announcement follows reports of Chinese authorities targeting Nvidia, including accusations of anti-monopoly law violations and orders to halt chip purchases.
Source: REUTERS
