Huawei to launch two new AI chips in 2027, targets Nvidia's turf
Huawei will launch the 960DT in early 2027 and the Ascend 960PR later that year, as it expands its AI computing business and challenges Nvidia.
Huawei Technologies will introduce two new artificial-intelligence semiconductors in 2027, rotating chairman David Wang said at a company event in Shanghai on Thursday, as the Chinese firm expands its AI computing business and takes aim at U.S. chipmaker Nvidia.
The first of the two, the 960DT, is scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2027, with the Ascend 960PR to follow in the third quarter, Wang said.
Beyond individual chips, Huawei is working on technology to link very large numbers of AI processors so they can operate as a single, more powerful computing system. Most advanced AI programmes need more processing power than any one chip can deliver.
Wang described UnifiedBus as a key element of Huawei's next-generation large AI systems, designed to help chips exchange information and work together more efficiently. The company has developed 11 semiconductors based on the technology for use in these systems, he said.
Huawei's largest linked systems, which it calls superclusters, can support up to 1 million AI processors, according to Wang. The company has also shipped more than 1,000 smaller linked systems, known as supernodes, to over 370 customers. He did not specify how many chips a single supernode can connect, identify the customers, or provide a breakdown of the shipments.
Huawei's push comes amid intensifying competition between the United States and China over the chips, data centres and software that underpin artificial intelligence. Washington has imposed export controls restricting China's access to certain advanced computing chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, prompting Chinese companies and policymakers to place greater emphasis on domestic alternatives.
That has made the ability to connect chips increasingly important for Chinese technology firms. Unable to freely buy the most advanced foreign chips, they can seek more computing power by joining larger numbers of locally available chips into one system — an approach that works only if the chips can exchange information quickly enough.
U.S. export curbs have helped Huawei emerge as a prominent Chinese supplier of AI chips. It still faces a well-established market leader in Nvidia, whose hardware and software tools are widely used by developers worldwide. Building a strong developer base will be important to Huawei's effort to make its hardware easier to use; Wang said the company's AI chip ecosystem had 5,270 monthly active developers.