Nvidia rival Huawei is preparing to significantly ramp up production of its most advanced AI processors, underscoring China’s efforts to reduce its reliance on foreign suppliers.
People familiar with the matter tell Bloomberg the Chinese firm aims to produce about 600,000 of its 910C Ascend chips in 2026, roughly twice the number it will ship this year.
The broader Ascend product line could reach as many as 1.6 million dies, a meaningful step for a company that struggled to deliver hardware under US sanctions.
The push highlights how Huawei and its main manufacturing partner, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), are working to ease bottlenecks in China’s AI supply chain. Success would mark a technical breakthrough and support the country’s long-standing goal of self-reliance in advanced computing.
The news comes as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dismisses claims that China lags far behind the United States in chip technology. In a Bg2 Pod interview, he says the country has established a vibrant and high-tech modern industry.
“They’re the most hungry in the world. 9-9-6, as you know — nine in the morning to nine at night, six days a week — that is their culture. We’re up against a formidable, innovative, hungry, fast-moving, underregulated competitor.
People don’t realize this. They are very lightly regulated. People think that they’re centrally governed. But remember, the genius of China was distributed economic systems. All of these 33 provinces and local economies have driven enormous internal competition and vibrancy, which of course has some side effects…
And yet, I’ve heard some say they could never build AI chips. That just sounded insane. Or that China can’t manufacture. If there’s one thing they can do, it’s manufacture. Others say they’re years behind us. Two years? Three years? Come on — they’re nanoseconds behind us.”
He also warns that US policy must allow domestic firms to scale globally.
“And what we need to do as a country is enable our technology industry. Today, I’m privileged to be working in an industry that is our national treasure. We have to acknowledge it is our best industry — our single best industry. Why would we not allow this industry to go compete for its survival, to proliferate technology worldwide, so the world is built on top of American technology? That way we maximize our economic success, our geopolitical influence, and give this industry the chance to thrive at such a pivotal time.”
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