Rumor: Huawei’s New AI Chips May Collaborate with NVIDIA and Compete with 2022 GPUs

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Recent speculation circulating on social media claims that China’s Huawei is in the process of developing a new artificial intelligence processor designed to rival NVIDIA’s H100 GPU. NVIDIA’s latest series of AI GPUs, known as the Blackwell series, faces competition from this rumored Huawei chip, dubbed the Ascend 910D. This new processor is reported to utilize four chip dies, significantly increasing its potential size compared to the current flagship, the Ascend 910C. Investigations indicate that Huawei may possess a stockpile of up to two million distinct chip dies, which can be combined to create powerful processors. However, today’s rumor suggests that Huawei may be encountering challenges with chip design, relying on older dies to produce high-performing devices.

Multi-Die Packaging: A Strategic Response to Production Limitations

US sanctions have severely hampered Huawei’s ability to manufacture cutting-edge chips, particularly due to restrictions on collaborations with foundries that have access to the latest lithography technology. Nevertheless, various sources report that Huawei managed to acquire advanced chip dies prior to the enforcement of these sanctions, which could aid its production capabilities.

The existing Ascend chip dies are employed in the manufacturing of Ascend 910C AI processors, each relying on two dies. According to Chinese social media reports, Huawei is now seeking to fuse four die units to produce the Ascend 910D, potentially achieving performance levels that outstrip those of NVIDIA’s H100. The H100, launched in 2022, played a pivotal role in training models like ChatGPT, leveraging the capabilities of its predecessor, the A100.

However, US trade restrictions prevent NVIDIA from marketing the H100 or subsequent models to Chinese clients. If today’s reports are accurate, they further indicate that Huawei still faces significant obstacles in matching the technological advancements presented by NVIDIA, as sanctions limit its access to advanced design and procurement options.

NVIDIA H100 GPU Performance Chart — Image Source: Wccftech

In addition to insights on the 910D’s design, the report also discusses its production timeline and hints at a successor. There are indications that market shipments could potentially commence this quarter or by the second quarter of 2026.

It’s essential to note that while Huawei is believed to have access to two million Ascend chip dies, US analyses suggest China’s production capacity for AI chips might be limited to 200, 000 units by 2025. Additionally, inefficiencies in packaging often reduce the actual yield of usable chips from available dies.

Assuming Huawei can optimize its resources, it could theoretically assemble fewer than 400, 000 Ascend 910D chips from approximately 1.5 million dies available, provided all dies are successfully incorporated into four-die configurations without losses. There are rumors that these chips might be manufactured by SMIC, a notable Chinese semiconductor foundry.

As for the future of the Ascend series, reports suggest that the next upgrade will be called the Ascend 920, featuring a two-die design as a standard. This iteration is also expected to be compatible with NVIDIA’s existing hardware, potentially utilizing a general-purpose graphics processing unit (GPGPU) framework to enhance performance. Initial small-scale shipments of the Ascend 920 could begin in 2027.

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