Huawei Launches Next-Gen Ascend 920 AI Chip to Address Market Gap Left by NVIDIA; How US Export Controls Benefit China

Huawei is ramping up its efforts to challenge NVIDIA’s dominance in the Chinese market with the introduction of its advanced Ascend 920 AI chip. This strategic move follows recent developments that have reshaped the competitive landscape for AI hardware in China.

Huawei’s Ascend 920 Chip: A Strong Contender Against NVIDIA’s H20

While NVIDIA has historically been recognized as the frontrunner in AI hardware, market dynamics are shifting, particularly with rising competitors like Huawei. A significant barrier has recently impacted NVIDIA’s ability to supply the Chinese market: an export ban on its H20 AI accelerator. This regulatory hurdle has sparked a critical opportunity for domestic tech firms, allowing Huawei to enhance its AI offerings significantly.

The highly anticipated Ascend 920 chip aims to directly compete with NVIDIA’s H20. Initial reports indicate that Huawei has focused on maintaining an entirely in-house supply chain for this chip. Utilizing the advanced 6nm manufacturing process from Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), the Ascend 920 signifies a leap from its predecessor, the Ascend 910C, which operated on a larger 7nm process. The performance specs are impressive, boasting 900 TFLOPS of processing power and a remarkable memory bandwidth of 4, 000 GB/s, along with a chiplet architecture reminiscent of its previous model.

Initial assessments suggest that the Ascend 920 could outperform the H20 by approximately 30% to 40%.However, these claims necessitate validation through independent third-party evaluations before definitive conclusions can be drawn. Notably, this announcement coincided with new export controls imposed on NVIDIA, highlighting Huawei’s commitment to becoming a leading hardware supplier in China.

Moreover, Huawei is not only focusing on individual chips; it has also advanced in the AI cluster domain with its CloudMatrix 384 system. Built on the foundation of the Ascend 910C chips, this platform reportedly delivers superior performance when compared to NVIDIA’s state-of-the-art GB200 NVL72 system. This indicates Huawei’s strategic intent to aggressively expand its footprint in the AI sector, even as NVIDIA navigates challenges related to export regulations and market retention in China.

Source & Images