Huawei to launch new AI chip ahead of schedule to compete with Nvidia

Chinese tech giant Huawei has moved up the release date of its next-generation Ascend 960DT AI chip to the first quarter of 2027. According to TechCrunch, a company representative announced this at the Huawei Connect conference on Thursday. Previously, the chip was scheduled for release in the third quarter of 2027. This is reported by Techcrunch.com reporting.

According to the Huawei representative, the new Ascend 960 chips are being completed well ahead of schedule and are doubling their capabilities every year. This updated timeline was officially announced by the company's rotating chairman, David Wang, during the conference. The statement coincided with the expected meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington.

Peerium Computing Architecture and large supercomputers

Huawei is currently working on integrating hundreds of thousands, and eventually millions, of AI chips into a single massive computer network. The Chinese tech giant calls this approach the Peerium Computing Architecture. The system relies on UnifiedBus technology, which serves to connect processors with memory, data storage, and network equipment.

Huawei Chairman Eric Xu noted that the company is using the new Peerium architecture to build larger AI systems designed for both training and data processing. The Atlas 950 SuperPoD and SuperCluster, based on this architecture, are the company's first systems, with a single Atlas 950 SuperCluster capable of interconnecting up to 256 accelerator cards.

Industry analysts and the context of international restrictions

However, the shortened timeline for the chip's introduction has raised questions about the scale of Huawei's systems. Renowned tech analyst Rui Ma wrote on the X platform that while the company previously stated the Atlas 960 SuperPoD system would include 15,488 Ascend 960 chips, the latest announcement mentioned a system consisting of 4,096 chips. The analyst believes that despite the chip itself being ready very early, the presented SuperPoD system is smaller than planned.

It is known that despite US restrictions on China's access to advanced semiconductor technologies, Huawei is consistently pursuing its chip plans. As Rui Ma noted, at a time when security and self-sufficiency are priorities, such restrictions are unlikely to halt China's progress in the semiconductor industry.

According to the Financial Times, Eric Xu emphasized that China must rapidly develop AI technologies to catch up with the US, and that domestic companies must move forward to fully understand the risks posed by more powerful AI systems.