Huawei has unveiled a next-generation artificial intelligence chip the Ascend 920 in a bold move aimed at shielding China’s digital ambitions from intensifying U.S. export restrictions.
The announcement, was made just a day after the United States extended its chip sanctions to include Nvidia’s H20 processors, signals China’s deepening push for semiconductor self-sufficiency.
The Ascend 920, which is set to enter mass production in the second half of 2025, has been designed to replace the now-restricted Nvidia H20 chips. According to Huawei, the chip delivers over 900 teraflops (TFLOPs) per card and offers a memory bandwidth of 4 terabytes per second through advanced HBM3 modules performance metrics that position it among the most powerful AI processors globally.
Analysts say the new chip reflects a broader strategy by Beijing to accelerate domestic innovation in response to geopolitical headwinds. “The restrictions may have created the very outcome they sought to prevent,” noted a Shanghai-based semiconductor analyst, pointing to China’s surge in public and private investment into chip research and development.
Alongside the 920, Huawei also unveiled the CloudMatrix 384, a rack-scale AI solution that reportedly outperforms Nvidia’s recently launched GB200 model albeit with higher energy consumption.
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The full-stack ecosystem, built on Huawei’s in-house software and hardware, is being framed by the tech giant as proof that China no longer needs to rely on Western chipmakers to support its AI ambitions.
Huawei’s pivot is particularly significant for the Chinese market, where demand for AI infrastructure is skyrocketing. With the U.S. tightening export controls, American firms like Nvidia face an estimated $5.5 billion in lost sales from the Chinese market. This has opened the door for local giants like Huawei to capture unmet demand and secure dominance in the rapidly growing AI ecosystem.
Beijing has made it clear that self-reliance is no longer an option but a necessity. The government’s latest five-year plan includes substantial allocations for semiconductor research, with support for technologies ranging from EUV lithography to AI model training platforms. Huawei, having already endured years of restrictions on its consumer hardware division, appears to be at the forefront of this national pivot.
The rollout of the Ascend 920 is expected to shift the balance in the global chip race. While it remains unclear whether Huawei can fully match Nvidia’s end-to-end AI stack in software flexibility and developer ecosystem, its aggressive performance benchmarks and alignment with state priorities make it a formidable player.
