Huawei Technologies is preparing to start mass shipments of its new artificial intelligence (AI) chip, called the 910C, to Chinese customers as early as next month. According to sources familiar with the matter, some deliveries have already taken place. Huawei’s 910C AI chip will be a game changer after the restrictions from the U.S. government.
This news comes at a critical time for China’s AI industry. Many local AI companies have been looking for strong alternatives to chips from Nvidia, the U.S. tech giant. One chip in particular, Nvidia’s H20, had been widely used in China. However, the U.S. government recently told Nvidia that it now needs a special export license to sell this chip to Chinese firms.
Because of this restriction, Chinese companies are turning to domestic solutions. Huawei’s 910C chip is now seen as a strong replacement.
China Turns to Huawei’s 910C AI Chip After US Blocks Nvidia Exports
The 910C is a graphics processing unit (GPU). It is not a completely new invention but an improved version of Huawei’s earlier 910B chip. Experts say that the 910C performs at a similar level to Nvidia’s powerful H100 chip. This is achieved by combining two 910B chips into one unit using advanced design methods.
As a result, the 910C has twice the computing power and memory of the 910B. It also supports a wider range of AI tasks and has other minor improvements. These features make it attractive to AI companies working on training and running large language models and other tools.
Huawei has not officially confirmed details about the 910C chip or its shipment plans. The company referred to reports as speculation and declined to comment further.
The U.S. government has taken several steps in recent years to slow down China’s progress in high-end technology. This includes blocking Chinese access to top-level AI chips made by Nvidia, such as the H100 and the newer B200. The H100, for example, was banned in China before it was officially launched in 2022.
These export restrictions have opened the door for Chinese firms like Huawei and AI chip startups such as Moore Threads and Iluvatar CoreX. They are now racing to fill the gap left by Nvidia in China’s fast-growing AI market.
Experts believe that Huawei’s new chip could become the preferred choice for Chinese developers. Paul Triolo, a consultant at Albright Stonebridge Group, said that the 910C will likely be used widely for building and running AI models in China.
Last year, Huawei began giving out test samples of the 910C to various tech companies and started accepting orders.
It is not yet clear which companies will produce the chip in large numbers. Some components of the 910C are being made by China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). SMIC is using its 7nm N+2 technology, but sources say its chip production yields are still low.
In addition, some of the 910C chips may include parts originally made by Taiwan’s TSMC for a Chinese firm called Sophgo. Huawei has denied using such chips, and TSMC has stated that it follows all export rules and has not supplied Huawei since September 2020.