In the midst of the confrontation with the United States, China is asking its companies to stop buying graphics processors (GPUs) sold by Nvidia. preferring national alternatives, such as those designed by Huawei, Reports South China Morning Post.
If nothing has been officially announced by Beijing, several sources cited by the Hong Kong newspaper confirm the instructions of the Minister of Industry and Information Technology. Currently, the Chinese authorities have not imposed any ban on purchases.
New chip from Huawei
For two years, Washington banned the export of the most advanced chips to China. This particularly concerns Nvidia’s latest GPUs, the A100 and H100, used to train generative AI models. Then the Santa Clara company developed less powerful components, called the A800 and H800, making it possible to drop below the performance limits set by Washington.
But at the end of 2023, the US administration will end Export ban update So it also applies to these two graphics units. Nvidia responded immediately With three new chipscalled H20, L20, and L2. Despite US restrictions, China remains its third largest market in terms of sales volume.
Faced with this situation, Beijing wants to develop its own semiconductor industry. Although the delay in commissioning has been significant, recent progress gives reason for optimism. last year, Huawei in particular launched a chip dedicated to artificial intelligencethe Ascend 910B, which will offer performance similar to Nvidia’s A100. The new 910C version is said to be being tested with potential customers.
Lithography machines
If vulnerabilities allow access to Nvidia chipsets, Especially through cloud platformsMajor Chinese companies are working on a future in which they will no longer have access to these components. At the end of September, major telecommunications company China Telecom confirmed that it had designed two major language models using Chinese chips, possibly those produced by Huawei.
But Beijing’s ambitions face another problem: Chinese foundries can no longer afford the equipment needed to manufacture advanced chips. This is particularly the case for lithography machines from the Dutch company ASML, the export of which is becoming increasingly restricted. Here too, local alternatives are beginning to emerge. But achieving it will take more time.
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