GoKawiilKey Takeaways Mass shipment of Huawei’s 910C GPUs is expected to start by the end of this month.
The 910C uses two 910B processors and is reportedly as fast as Nvidia’s H100.
The company is also testing its latest Ascend 910D chips.
Huawei’s 910C GPU may start mass shipments by the end of May. The 910C chip can be described as more of an architectural breakthrough than a technological victory. It combines two 910B processors to achieve double its predecessor’s computing power and memory capacity.
More interestingly, and something that should be concerning for the US, is that the 910C claims to achieve the same level of performance as Nvidia’s H100, which came out in 2022.
The US has now, for years, been trying to restrict the access of AI-ready chips to China through various restrictions. The H100 is also banned from export to China. However, it has taken China just three years to catch up with Nvidia.
You can argue that China is still three years behind the US. However, it’s important to understand that the difference is closing down rather rapidly, and China is not too far behind. The US’s bans have only boosted domestic production of AI chips in China, with companies like Huawei, Moore Threads, and Iluvatar CoreX at the forefront of innovation.
What’s more, China is already testing the new Ascend 910D chip, which will reportedly be more powerful than the H100. So, America’s plan to cut China off from the AI race doesn’t look like it’s working. If anything, it’s motivating Chinese firms to accelerate growth in the semiconductor industry.
The US May Have Dug Itself a Hole
The Biden-sanctioned AI diffusion rule is set to come into force on May 15. This will restrict the export of advanced AI chips to countries around the world by dividing them into various tiers.
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