Chinese company Huawei has announced plans to release a new chip, the Ascend 960DT, which will offer computing power comparable to current Nvidia models. The launch of this chip has been moved up from the third quarter of 2027 to the beginning of the same year. The introduction of the new chip is expected to help China reduce its reliance on foreign technologies and overcome restrictions imposed by the United States on the development of artificial intelligence in the country.

Restrictions on Access to Technology

In August 2022, the United States limited China’s access to the latest Nvidia technologies. At that time, all Nvidia equipment was manufactured at TSMC factories. The official reason given was the protection of Taiwan’s autonomy, but it later became clear that the real issue was controlling the development of artificial intelligence.

The Development of Chinese AI Models

In January 2025, China launched the DeepSeek model, which demonstrated high performance but ran on outdated Nvidia chips. Shortly after, Nvidia announced it would move chip production to the United States. Access to modern chips is a key factor for AI development, intensifying the technological rivalry between China and the US.

Huawei’s Chip Development Plans

At the Huawei Connect conference, the company announced it would move the release of its new chip to early 2027. In the future, Huawei plans to launch new generations of Ascend chips annually—models 970 and 980 are expected in 2028 and 2029, respectively. These chips are projected to double their computing capabilities with each generation, along with improvements in memory and bandwidth.

Features of China’s AI Infrastructure

Unlike the US, where companies focus on maximizing computing power, Chinese engineers are building AI infrastructure based on the chips available to them. This has led to a partial shift toward open innovation. However, despite a large pool of specialists, AI development in China remains limited by hardware constraints.

Market Prospects and Impact

The arrival of the Ascend 960DT chip could reshape the market and influence the balance of power in the field of artificial intelligence. The key question remains whether the new chip will be able to compete with Nvidia’s Blackwell GPU, which is expected to boost sales in 2027.

Social and Technological Aspects

China has opened the world’s first “smart factory,” where robots assemble other robots. Reports indicate that attitudes toward the future of AI and its impact on life in China are more optimistic than in the US. This optimism could significantly influence the development of the AI industry, alongside technological achievements.