BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -Baidu ordered synthetic intelligence chips from Huawei this 12 months, two folks acquainted with the matter stated, including to indicators that U.S. strain is prompting Chinese language acceptance of the agency’s merchandise as a substitute for Nvidia’s.
One of many folks stated Baidu, considered one of China’s main AI corporations, which operates the Ernie massive language mannequin (LLM), positioned the order in August, forward of extensively anticipated new guidelines by the U.S. authorities that in October tightened restrictions on exports of chips and chip instruments to China, together with these of U.S. chip big Nvidia.
Baidu ordered 1,600 of Huawei Applied sciences’ 910B Ascend AI chips – which the Chinese language agency developed as a substitute for Nvidia’s A100 chip – for 200 servers, the supply stated, including that by October, Huawei had delivered extra 60% of the order, or about 1,000 chips, to Baidu.
The second particular person stated that the order’s complete worth was roughly 450 million yuan ($61.83 million) and that Huawei was to ship all the chips by the top of this 12 months. Each folks declined to be named as a result of the small print of the deal had been confidential.
Though the order is tiny relative to the 1000’s of chips prime Chinese language tech corporations have traditionally ordered from Nvidia, the sources stated it was vital, because it confirmed how some corporations might shift away from the U.S. firm.
Baidu, alongside Chinese language friends corresponding to Tencent and Alibaba, is understood to be a long-time consumer of Nvidia. Baidu was not beforehand identified to be a AI chip buyer of Huawei.
Though Huawei’s Ascend chips are nonetheless seen as far inferior to Nvidia’s when it comes to efficiency, the primary supply stated they had been essentially the most refined home possibility out there in China.
“They had been ordering 910B chips to arrange for a future the place they could now not be capable of buy from Nvidia,” the primary supply stated.
Baidu and Huawei didn’t reply to requests for remark. Nvidia declined to remark.
Huawei’s web site says it has since 2020 collaborated with Baidu to make its AI platform appropriate with Huawei {hardware}. In August, the 2 firms stated they’d deepen compatibility between Baidu’s Ernie AI mannequin and Huawei’s Ascend chips.
Baidu has developed its personal line of Kunlun AI chips, which the corporate says helps large-scale AI computing, however the firm has primarily relied on Nvidia’s A100 chip to coach its LLM.
After the U.S. final 12 months imposed guidelines stopping Nvidia from promoting its A100 and H100 chips to China, the corporate issued new A800 and H800 chips as options for Chinese language prospects, together with Baidu. Nvidia is now not capable of promote these chips to China due to the October guidelines.
HUAWEI OPPORTUNITY
Analysts predicted final month that the U.S. curbs would create a gap for Huawei to increase in its $7 billion dwelling market. The corporate has been the topic of U.S. export controls since 2019.
The order provides to indicators of technological advances for Huawei, as Beijing pours funding into its home semiconductor business to assist it meet up with abroad friends and urges state-owned corporations to switch international expertise with home options.
Huawei drew substantial international consideration in August when it unexpectedly unveiled a brand new smartphone that analysts stated makes use of internally developed processors that includes superior semiconductor expertise, highlighting the corporate’s progress in chip improvement regardless of sanctions.
In September, Reuters reported that Huawei’s in-house chip design unit, HiSilicon, had commenced shipments of newly developed Chinese language-made processors for surveillance cameras to shoppers in 2023 in one other comeback signal.
($1 = 7.2782 Chinese language yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Yelin Mo, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Further reporting by Josh Ye in Hong Kong; Enhancing by Gerry Doyle)
