Huawei readies AI chip to compete with Nvidia’s H100
Huawei is readying a homegrown answer to Nvidia’s ubiquitous H100 GPU, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The Chinese tech giant is reaching out to companies to test the forthcoming GPU, which is expected to ship in May, according to the report.
The H100, while now eclipsed by the newer and more powerful Blackwell series of chips, was hoarded by AI companies in the hundreds of thousands, and helped build the current generation of models.
But this key chip has long been restricted by US export controls, forcing Chinese companies to use Nvidia’s lower-power Chinese market H20 processors or find creative ways to smuggle the chips into the country.
While Chinese AI startup DeepSeek showed the world that it doesn’t need a gazillion of the latest GPUs to upend the industry, a domestically produced AI chip on par with the H100 would be a huge deal for China in the global arms race for AI.
The H100, while now eclipsed by the newer and more powerful Blackwell series of chips, was hoarded by AI companies in the hundreds of thousands, and helped build the current generation of models.
But this key chip has long been restricted by US export controls, forcing Chinese companies to use Nvidia’s lower-power Chinese market H20 processors or find creative ways to smuggle the chips into the country.
While Chinese AI startup DeepSeek showed the world that it doesn’t need a gazillion of the latest GPUs to upend the industry, a domestically produced AI chip on par with the H100 would be a huge deal for China in the global arms race for AI.
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