Huawei’s latest AI accelerator, the Ascend 910C, is poised for its big debut soon, marking a new chapter as the chip has officially gone into production and we’ve got the scoop on what it brings to the table.
Huawei’s Ascend 910C: 7nm Marvel and the Ambition to Deliver Millions of AI Chips
The Chinese AI sector is undoubtedly on the brink of a technological transformation. With advancements like the R1 model from DeepSeek, there’s an increasing hunger for more computing power within the domestic market. Amidst this surge, Huawei is making notable strides with its upcoming Ascend 910C chips, promising a shake-up in the competitive landscape. Tech analyst @ohlennart has shed light on what this 910C chip will offer, hinting that NVIDIA’s H100 might just meet its match in China.
According to Lennart Heim’s insights, shared over a tweet, Huawei’s Ascend 910C is heralded as China’s top AI chip, thanks to clever sourcing strategies. Expectations are high, with predictions of reaching a million units akin to H100 equivalents this year. Here’s a breakdown of its expected performance and strategic outlook.
Diving into the details, the upcoming Ascend 910C is noted for its straightforward design compared to its NVIDIA rivals. Huawei plans to employ dual silicon interposers, linked via an organic substrate—a tried-and-true method. Essentially, this involves pairing two Ascend 910B chips for boosted performance. As a result, the 910C is anticipated to hit a remarkable 800 TFLOP/s at FP16, with a memory bandwidth reaching up to 3.2 TB/s, putting it almost on par with the H100.
Huawei is gearing up to utilize 7nm technology sourced from both TSMC and SMIC for this endeavor. Before export restrictions were enforced, Huawei secured significant 7nm orders with TSMC, ensuring that a substantial part of Ascend 910C’s manufacturing would go through the Taiwanese company. Meanwhile, China’s own SMIC is stepping into the spotlight, having mastered 7nm technology. With a monthly wafer output of about 50,000 units expected, SMIC stands ready if Huawei aims to roll out millions of these AI chips.
In the context of China’s domestic AI milestones, the Ascend 910C represents a pivotal stride forward. However, when viewed on the global stage, Huawei lags behind, trailing 10-20 times in computing power. Nonetheless, companies like DeepSeek illustrate that innovative approaches can offset this gap. With China’s rich pool of talent, the impending AI competition is set to intensify.
