Huawei unveils AI system to compete with Nvidia's top tech

Huawei Technologies has unveiled its most advanced AI computing system yet, aiming to compete directly with Nvidia’s top-tier offerings in the growing artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

The Chinese tech giant introduced the CloudMatrix 384 system at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, attracting considerable attention from both local and international attendees.

The system's debut marks a significant step for Huawei in its effort to become a leading player in the AI hardware space.

Originally announced in April, the CloudMatrix 384 has been under close watch by industry experts, with some suggesting it could rival, or even outperform, Nvidia’s GB200 NVL72, the US company’s most powerful AI computing product currently on the market.

According to the founder of semiconductor research firm SemiAnalysis, Dylan Patel, Huawei’s new system might have a performance edge due to its architecture.

While Huawei’s individual chips, the 910C, may not match Nvidia’s B200 chips in isolation, the system’s configuration of 384 interconnected chips enables it to outperform Nvidia’s 72-chip GB200 NVL72 setup on some key metrics.

This enhanced performance is credited to Huawei’s use of a “supernode” architecture, which allows for ultra-fast chip interconnection and more efficient system-level performance.

Despite ongoing US export restrictions, Huawei has emerged as China’s most promising domestic provider of AI hardware.