Illustration of Chinese and American flags on CPU.
Blackdovfx | Stocks | Getty Images
Years of U.S. sanctions on China’s semiconductor industry have forced Beijing to step up efforts to boost its domestic chip industry.
The boom in artificial intelligence and underlying models will only fuel China’s goal of taking a dominant role in the chip industry.
So far, all American companies NVIDIA Its graphics processing units (GPUs) make headlines because it designs the critical hardware needed to train large artificial intelligence models, such as those in OpenAI that power ChatGPT.
While Nvidia can export some chips to China, Washington has signaled a willingness to cut off its technology rivals from supplies of its most cutting-edge semiconductors and the tools needed to make them. That has put renewed focus on China’s homegrown efforts to compete with Nvidia and create semiconductors that could underpin the world’s second-largest economy’s own artificial intelligence industry.
CNBC spoke with two analysts who identified some of Nvidia’s main Chinese competitors.
Huawei
Huawei is one of China’s leading technology companies, with businesses covering telecommunications infrastructure, consumer electronics and cloud computing. Its chip design unit is called HiSilicon.
The Shenzhen-based company designed the Ascend series of data center processors. Huawei then sells these chips as part of servers that go into data centers to train artificial intelligence models. The brand name of its artificial intelligence server is Atlas.
The company’s current generation of chips is called the Ascend 910B, and the company is preparing to launch the Ascend 910C, which one person said could rival Nvidia’s H100 product. The Wall Street Journal reported in August.
In its annual report earlier this year, Nvidia clearly regarded Huawei and other companies as competitors in fields such as chips, artificial intelligence software and network products.
“It’s not just about the hardware, it’s about the entire ecosystem, developer tools, and the ability to continue to develop this ecosystem as technology advances. In this regard, Huawei has a lot of advantages and is trying to build a consulting firm,” said Albright Associate Partner of Stonebridge Paul Triolo told CNBC: “The software ecosystem surrounding the Ascend series of data center processors.
Alibaba and Baidu
Alibaba and Baidu both buy Nvidia chips, but they are also designing their own semiconductors for artificial intelligence processes.
Baidu, one of China’s largest Internet companies, designs its own chips under the Kunlun brand for use in servers and self-driving cars.
Alibaba’s semiconductor design unit T-Head has developed an AI inference chip called Hanguang 800. User inquiries.
Counterpoint Research senior analyst Sun Wei told CNBC: “Alibaba’s artificial intelligence inference chips have been deployed on its e-commerce platform to accelerate its recommendation system. Baidu has integrated its Kunlun chips into its data centers and autonomous driving areas. “
Biren Technology
Like Nvidia, Biren Technology designed a general-purpose GPU and has a software development platform to build applications on top of the hardware.
The chips are part of Biren’s Bili series of products, designed for use in artificial intelligence training in data centers.
Last year, Biren was added to a U.S. blacklist, known as the “Entity List,” which restricts its access to certain U.S. technology.
Cambrian Technology
Cambrian Technologies designs various types of semiconductors, from those used to train AI models to those that can run AI applications on devices rather than in data centers.
However, the company continued to post significant losses It is said Workers were laid off last year, the South China Morning Post reported.
Cambricon Technologies is also listed on the U.S. Entity List.
Moore thread
Moore Threads, founded in 2020, is developing GPUss Designed to train large artificial intelligence models.
MTT KUAE is the company’s data center product that includes GPUs. According to a statement on its website, the company’s mission is to become the “global GPU leader.”
It also has the backing of big brands. TikTok owner ByteDance is an investor in major venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital and GGV Capital.
Moore Threads is also listed on the U.S. Entity List.
Suiyan Technology
Enflame Technology is another Chinese startup seeking to position itself as a homegrown alternative to Nvidia. The company designs chips for data centers focused on artificial intelligence training and processes.
Tencent, one of China’s largest technology companies, is an investor in Enflame.
About The Author
