Huawei Unveils Ascend 960 SuperPoD in Shanghai, Touting Optical Interconnect Gains
Huawei launched the Ascend 960 SuperPoD in Shanghai on September 17, introducing near packaged optics technology for faster, more efficient AI computing.
Huawei has launched the Ascend 960 SuperPoD, a new AI computing system, in Shanghai on September 17. The system introduces near packaged optics (NPO) technology, which the company says allows high-speed connections among a larger number of AI chips while lowering energy consumption.
According to Huawei, these improvements raise both the efficiency and the scale of AI computing. The launch event included a ceremony for the Ascend 960 SuperPoD, along with displays of chips and computing equipment. Footage of the earlier Atlas 950 launch, held in July 2026, was also shown.
Speaking at the event, Zhang Jiuru, a Huawei computing expert, said large-scale deployment of optical interconnects can enable higher deployment density and greater scale, allowing the system to handle massive amounts of concurrent workloads. He added that the approach supports high-density co-deployment of general-purpose computing and AI computing under a shared liquid cooling system.
Zhang said this setup offers better support for Agentic AI by allowing its "limbs" and "brain" to work in parallel and coordinate with each other. The launch underscores the growing focus on interconnect and cooling technologies as AI workloads expand.