Latest news with #Ascend910B
CNBC
12-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
China's racing to build its AI ecosystem as U.S. tech curbs bite. Here's how its supply chain stacks up
With the U.S. restricting China from buying advanced semiconductors used in artificial intelligence development, Beijing is placing hopes on domestic alternatives such as Huawei. The task has been made more challenging by the fact that U.S. curbs not only inhibit China's access to the world's most advanced chips, but also restrict availing technology vital for creating an AI chip ecosystem. Those constraints span the entire semiconductor value chain, ranging from design and manufacturing equipment used to produce AI chips to supporting elements such as memory chips. Beijing has mobilized tens of billions of dollars to try to fill those gaps, but while it has been able to "brute force" its way into some breakthroughs, it still has a long way to go, according to experts. "U.S. export controls on advanced Nvidia AI chips have incentivized China's industry to develop alternatives, while also making it more difficult for domestic firms to do so," said Paul Triolo, partner and senior vice president for China at advisory firm DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group. Here's how China stacks up against the rest of the world in four key segments needed to build AI chips. Nvidia is regarded as the world's leading AI chip company, but it's important to understand that it doesn't actually manufacture the physical chips that are used for AI training and computing. Rather, the company designs AI chips, or more precisely, graphics processing units. Orders of the company's patented GPU designs are then sent to chip foundries — manufacturers that specialize in the mass production of other companies' semiconductor products. While American competitors such as AMD and Broadcom offer varying alternatives, GPU designs from Nvidia are widely recognized as the industry standard. The demand for Nvidia chips is so strong that Chinese customers have continued to buy any of the company's chips they can get their hands on. But Nvidia is grappling with Washington's tightening restrictions. The company revealed in April that additional curbs had prevented it from selling its H20 processor to Chinese clients. Nvidia's H20 was a less sophisticated version of its H100 processor, designed specifically to skirt previous export controls. Nevertheless, experts say, it was still more advanced than anything available domestically. But China hopes to change that. In response to restrictions, more Chinese semiconductor players have been entering the AI processor arena. They've included a wide array of upstarts, such as Enflame Technology and Biren Technology, seeking to soak up billions of dollars in GPU demand left by Nvidia. But no Chinese firm appears closer to providing a true alternative to Nvidia than Huawei's chip design arm, HiSilicon. Huawei's most advanced GPU in mass production is its Ascend 910B. The next-generation Ascend 910C was reportedly expected to begin mass shipments as early as May, though no updates have emerged. Dylan Patel, founder, CEO and chief analyst at SemiAnalysis, told CNBC that while the Ascend chips remain behind Nvidia, they show that Huawei has been making significant progress. "Compared to Nvidia's export-restricted chips, the performance gap between Huawei and the H20 is less than a full generation. Huawei is not far behind the products Nvidia is permitted to sell into China," Patel said. He added that the 910B was two years behind Nvidia as of last year, while the Ascend 910C is only a year behind. But while that suggests China's GPU design capabilities have made great strides, design is just one aspect that stands in the way of creating a competitive AI chip ecosystem. To manufacture its GPUs, Nvidia relies on TSMC, the world's largest contract chip foundry, which produces most of the world's advanced chips. TSMC complies with U.S. chip controls and is also barred from taking any chip orders from companies on the U.S. trade blacklist. Huawei was placed on the list in 2019. That has led to Chinese chip designers like Huawei to enlist local chip foundries, the largest of which is SMIC. SMIC is far behind TSMC — it's officially known to be able to produce 7-nanometer chips, requiring less advance tech than TSMC's 3-nanometer production. Smaller nanometer sizes lead to greater chip processing power and efficiency. There are signs that SMIC has made progress. The company is suspected to have been behind a 5-nanometer 5G chip for Huawei's Mate 60 Pro, which had rocked confidence in U.S. chip controls in 2023. The company, however, has a long way to go before it can mass-produce advanced GPUs in a cost-efficient manner. According to independent chip and technology analyst Ray Wang, SMIC's known operation capacity is dwarfed by TSMC's. "Huawei is a very good chip design company, but they are still without good domestic chipmakers," Wang said, noting that Huawei is reportedly working on its own fabrication capabilities. But the lack of key manufacturing equipment stands in the way of both companies. SMIC's ability to fulfill Huawei's GPU requirements is limited by the familiar problem of export controls, but in this case, from the Netherlands. While Netherlands may not have any prominent semiconductor designers or manufacturers, it's home to ASML, the world's leading supplier of advanced chipmaking equipment — machines that use light or electron beams to transfer complex patterns onto silicon wafers, forming the basis of microchips. In accordance with U.S. export controls, the country has agreed to block the sale of ASML's most advanced ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines. The tools are critical to making advanced GPUs at scale and cost-effectively. EUV is the most significant barrier for Chinese advanced chip production, according to Jeff Koch, an analyst at SemiAnalysis. "They have most of the other tooling available, but lithography is limiting their ability to scale towards 3nm and below process nodes," he told CNBC. SMIC has found methods to work around lithography restrictions using ASML's less advanced deep ultraviolet lithography systems, which have seen comparatively fewer restrictions. Through this "brute forcing," producing chips at 7 nm is doable, but the yields are not good, and the strategy is likely reaching its limit, Koch said, adding that "at current yields it appears SMIC cannot produce enough domestic accelerators to meet demand." SiCarrier Technologies, a Chinese company working on lithography technology, has reportedly been linked to Huawei. But imitating existing lithography tools could take years, if not decades, to achieve, Koch said. Instead, China is likely to pursue other technologies and different lithography techniques to push innovation rather than imitation, he added. While GPUs are often identified as the most critical components in AI computing, they're far from the only ones. In order to operate AI training and computing, GPUs must work alongside memory chips, which are able to store data within a broader "chipset." In AI applications, a specific type of memory known as HBM has become the industry standard. South Korea's SK Hynix has taken the industry lead in HBM. Other companies in the field include Samsung and U.S.-based Micron. "High bandwidth memory at this stage of AI progression has become essential for training and running AI models," said analyst Wang. As with the Netherlands, South Korea is cooperating with U.S.-led chip restrictions and began complying with fresh curbs on the sale of certain HBM memory chips to China in December. In response, Chinese memory chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, in partnership with chip-packaging and testing company Tongfu Microelectronics, is in the early stages of producing HBM, according to a report by Reuters. According to Wang, CXMT is expected to be three to four years behind global leaders in HBM development, though it faces major roadblocks, including export controls on chipmaking equipment. SemiAnalysis estimated in April that CXMT remained a year away from ramping any reasonable volume. Chinese foundry Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing is reportedly building a factory to produce HBM wafers. A report from SCMP said that Huawei Technologies had partnered with the firm in producing HBM chips, although the companies did not confirm the partnership. Huawei has leaned on HBM stockpiles from suppliers like Samsung for use in their Ascend 910C AI processor, SemiAnalysis said in an April report, noting that while the chip was designed domestically, it still relies on foreign products obtained prior to or despite restrictions. "Whether it be HBM from Samsung, wafers from TSMC, or equipment from America, Netherlands, and Japan, there is a big reliance on foreign industry," SemiAnalysis said.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nvidia (NVDA) to Launch Cheaper AI Chip in China to Bypass Export Curbs
Nvidia (NVDA, Financials) is preparing to launch a lower-cost AI chip for the Chinese market, with mass production expected as early as June, according to a Reuters report citing unnamed sources. The new Blackwell-architecture GPU will be priced between $6,500 and $8,000significantly cheaper than the recently banned H20 model, which sold for $10,000 to $12,000. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Signs with NVDA. The upcoming chip will use conventional GDDR7 memory and omit advanced packaging from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., allowing it to comply with tightened U.S. export restrictions that limit GPU memory bandwidth. The updated design aims to deliver around 1.7 terabytes per second of bandwidth, just under the regulatory cap. China accounted for 13% of Nvidia's revenue last fiscal year, but its local market share has dropped from 95% in 2022 to roughly 50% after U.S. sanctions. Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang said further restrictions could drive more customers to Chinese rivals like Huawei, which produces the Ascend 910B chip. Despite reduced performance compared to the H20, Nvidia's software stack and CUDA platform may help preserve its edge. A second Blackwell-based chip for China is also in development and could enter production by September. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
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First Post
15-05-2025
- Business
- First Post
Trump's new salvo at China: Using Huawei's chips 'anywhere in the world' violates US export controls
US has warned that any company using Huawei-made artificial intelligence chips anywhere in the world could attract criminal penalties for potentially violating US export controls read more US President Donald Trump's administration has warned that any company using Huawei-made artificial intelligence chips anywhere in the world could attract criminal penalties for potentially violating US export controls. The directive from the US Commerce Department is supported by the notion that Huawei chips, especially Ascend 910B, 910C and 910D, are made using US technology. The department's Bureau of Industry and Security clarified Tuesday (May 13) that the new measure was part of the administration's more stringent approach to foreign AI chips. It is to be noted that the bureau has not issued any rule but has merely widened the interpretation of US export controls. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The guidance is not a new control, but rather a public confirmation of an interpretation that even the mere use anywhere by anyone of a Huawei-designed advanced computing [integrated circuit] would violate export control rules,' Kevin Wolf, a veteran export control lawyer at Akin Gump, was quoted as saying by Financial Times. Which Huawei chips are targeted by US? According to the Trump administration, Huawei Ascend chips — the 910B, 910C and 910D — are subject to the guidelines. It maintains that these chips have been 'designed with certain US software or technology or produced with semiconductor manufacturing equipment that is the direct produce of certain US-origin software or technology, or both'. The punitive measure against the Chinese chip giant comes as policymakers in Washington have been left stunned by the pace Huawei developed these chips and started delivering advanced AI chip 'clusters' to clients in China. Threat to Nvidia Huawei claims its advanced AI chip cluster outperforms the comparable product made by US rival Nvidia. The Chinese system is made up of a large number of 910C chips. While these chips may not be able to match the performance of Nvidia chips individually, Huawei claims the chip cluster may offer superior performance collectively. US alarmed There is increasing concern in the US that China's leading AI company might soon sell AI processors in China and abroad, competing with products from Nvidia and other American companies. Last month, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang described Huawei as 'one of the most formidable technology companies in the world' and mentioned that US policies should support his company in competing globally. The announcement coincided with Trump's visit to Saudi Arabi a, where he revealed several deals, including a promise by the kingdom's new state-owned AI company, Humain, to build AI infrastructure using hundreds of thousands of Nvidia chips.
Sustainability Times
05-05-2025
- Business
- Sustainability Times
Trump Blocks Chip Exports Again: China Furious as 2019 Trade War Tactics Return and Ignite Explosive Tech Breakaway
IN A NUTSHELL 🚫 Trump's Ban on advanced AI chip exports to China aims to curb China's technological rise but has paradoxically fueled its self-reliance. on advanced AI chip exports to China aims to curb China's technological rise but has paradoxically fueled its self-reliance. 🌐 Over six years, China has developed a self-sufficient tech ecosystem , with companies like Huawei and ByteDance leading the way in innovation. , with companies like Huawei and ByteDance leading the way in innovation. 🔗 The move has accelerated a technological decoupling between the U.S. and China, leading to divergent tech philosophies and ecosystems. between the U.S. and China, leading to divergent tech philosophies and ecosystems. 💡 Sanctions intended to weaken China have instead strengthened its resolve, pushing it toward greater independence and potential future dominance. On April 16, 2025, a significant geopolitical move took place as Donald Trump announced a ban on exporting advanced AI chips to China. This decision reignited strategies from 2019, aiming to curb China's technological rise. However, such measures have ironically propelled China toward greater technological independence. This article delves into the implications of this decision, exploring how China's tech landscape has evolved and what this means for the global tech race. Trump's Renewed Strategy: A Historical Context Donald Trump's announcement to ban the export of advanced AI chips like Nvidia's H20 and AMD's MI308 to China marks a continuation of a strategy first initiated in 2019. Back then, the blacklisting of Huawei was a critical move in the trade war, designed as a national security measure to prevent China from gaining an edge in tech innovation. The goal was clear: hinder China's technological advancements and maintain U.S. supremacy in technology. Despite the aggressive stance, these restrictions have not yielded the intended impact. Instead of slowing down, China has accelerated its development of a self-sufficient tech ecosystem. By cutting off China from crucial technologies, the U.S. inadvertently fueled a drive for technological independence in Beijing. This paradox underlines the complexity of international tech policies and their unforeseen consequences. 'Robots are the new arms race': Tesla and Boston Dynamics push Trump for a titanic plan to beat China's unstoppable AI army China's Technological Resilience and Growth The export ban has had an unintended consequence: catalyzing China's tech industry to achieve remarkable levels of self-reliance. Over the past six years, China has established a comprehensive ecosystem encompassing chip design, software development, data management, and AI modeling. Companies like Huawei are now designing their own GPUs, while SMIC is mass-producing the Ascend 910B chip. ByteDance is deploying robust AI solutions, and DeepSeek models are now competing with American tech giants. This strategic shift has not only bolstered China's tech capabilities but has also highlighted a significant divergence in technological philosophies. The U.S. remains committed to a proprietary model, focusing on exclusivity and licensing. In contrast, China emphasizes open-source development, shared resources, and large-scale innovation. This divergence underscores a fundamental shift in global tech dynamics, as China adapts and thrives under pressure. 'Unstoppable force meets its match': Next gen US missile defense obliterates elusive hypersonic threats with precision Decoupling and Its Broader Implications The decision to ban chip exports has accelerated a technological decoupling between the U.S. and China. As China explores alternatives to Western technologies, it is venturing into new territories, such as bismuth-based GPUs and non-silicon circuits. These technologies are developed independently and boast competitive performance metrics compared to their Western counterparts. Meanwhile, the U.S. is pursuing industrial relocations to mitigate reliance on Chinese manufacturing—a process that demands substantial investment and time, amidst a shortage of skilled labor. This bifurcation of tech ecosystems raises critical questions about the future of global innovation and economic dependencies. The strategic decoupling may lead to two parallel tech worlds, each evolving under different principles and constraints. '$1 Million Dinner Changed Everything': Trump Freezes NVIDIA H20 Chip Export Ban, Shocking Global Tech and Defense Sectors The Paradox of Sanctions: Strengthening the Adversary While each sanction appears to undermine China, it often strengthens its resolve and autonomy. The April 16 decision has not stunted Chinese innovation; instead, it has motivated China to become self-reliant. This resilience poses a potential threat to U.S. technological dominance, as China may soon surpass traditional tech frameworks and create groundbreaking advancements. Ultimately, the move to restrict technology exports may backfire, as it encourages China to innovate independently and potentially replace existing technologies with superior alternatives. This scenario prompts a reevaluation of sanction-based strategies, as they may not only fail to achieve their objectives but also inadvertently empower the very competitors they aim to weaken. The geopolitical landscape of technology is rapidly evolving, with significant implications for global power dynamics. As China continues to build its technological fortress, the world must ponder the long-term effects of these strategic decisions. Could the pursuit of self-sufficiency lead to a more balanced global tech ecosystem, or will it further divide the world's technological landscape? How will other nations navigate this shifting terrain in their quests for innovation and security? Did you like it? 4.3/5 (21)
First Post
01-05-2025
- Business
- First Post
Huawei's New AI Chip: A Real Threat to NVIDIA? Vantage with Palki Sharma
Huawei's New AI Chip: A Real Threat to NVIDIA? | Vantage with Palki Sharma | N18G Huawei's New AI Chip: A Real Threat to NVIDIA? | Vantage with Palki Sharma | N18G NVIDIA dominates the AI chip world, powering everything from smarter chatbots to faster self-driving cars — and it's now worth over $2.8 trillion. But behind China's Great Firewall, a challenge is brewing. Huawei is testing a new AI chip — the Ascend 910B — aiming to rival NVIDIA's mighty H100. Despite U.S. sanctions and technical hurdles, China is pouring resources into building its own AI future. Is Huawei's move symbolic, or the start of something bigger? Palki Sharma tells you. See More
