China’s Huawei sets 2027 launch for new AI chips as it targets Nvidia

SHANGHAI and BEIJING, Sept 17 - Huawei Technologies plans to release two new artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors, the 960DT in Q1 2027 and the Ascend 960PR in Q3 2027, according to rotating chairman David Wang. The Chinese tech firm aims to challenge U.S. chipmaker Nvidia in the AI computing space. Huawei is also developing a technology called UnifiedBus, which will enable multiple AI chips to work together as a single, larger computing system.

This technology will be key to the company's next-generation AI systems, allowing chips to share information and work more efficiently. Huawei has already developed 11 semiconductors based on UnifiedBus technology for its large systems and has shipped over 1,000 smaller linked systems, called supernodes, to more than 370 customers.

The U.S. and China are competing fiercely to develop AI chips, data centers, and software. The U.S. has imposed export controls limiting China's access to advanced computing chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Huawei has taken advantage of this situation and become a prominent supplier of AI chips in China. Despite this, the company faces competition from Nvidia, whose hardware and software tools are widely used by developers.

Huawei has a strong developer base with 5,270 monthly active developers, which is crucial for making its hardware easier to use.