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Over 1,000 SuperPods already deployed… "New product performance is 3-4 times that of existing products" also observed
Chinese telecommunications equipment giant Huawei announced that it considers computing to be at the core of its future artificial intelligence (AI) strategy and will bring forward the launch of its next-generation AI chips earlier than originally planned.
According to Kwachangpan Ilbo and Bloomberg on the 17th (local time), Huawei Rotating Chairman Wang Tao announced at the '2026 Huawei Connect Conference' held in Shanghai that "the Ascend 960 chip has been prepared ahead of schedule and achieved double the performance (compared to existing products)."
He further explained that the launch plan for the Ascend 960, originally set for the fourth quarter of next year, has been moved up, with the 960DT for AI model training to be released in the first quarter of next year, and the 960PR for inference to be released in the third quarter of next year.
The Ascend 970 is scheduled for release in 2028, and the Ascend 980 in 2029.
Previously, at the same event last year, Huawei unveiled its AI chip development blueprint for the next three years, stating that it would "release new Ascend products on an annual cycle and double the computing power with each release."
Bloomberg commented that this announcement reflects Huawei's confidence, noting that Huawei has been increasing disclosures related to data center hardware development and other areas since last year. This is a departure from its past practice of maintaining secrecy about production plans.
China views the US sanctions on advanced semiconductor technology as a chokehold on its nation and emphasizes its determination to solve this through self-reliance and self-strengthening, with Huawei being seen as a vanguard in this effort.
This year, Huawei introduced the 'Tau Law' to overcome the limitations of 'Moore's Law' and is focusing on its AI computing supernode system 'Atlas 950 SuperPod' to overcome the performance limits of individual chips by linking them together.
This technology involves linking thousands of AI chips into a single computing pool. China's strategy is to overcome its inferiority in individual chips under US pressure by achieving superiority in chip-linking systems.
Chairman Wang Tao said on the day, "Over 1,000 Atlas SuperPods have already been deployed, and there are more than 370 customers. The Atlas 950 SuperPod has already begun large-scale commercialization."
He added, "The (new product) Atlas 960 SuperPod will be the industry's first to use Near-Package Optics (NPO), a technology that increases data transfer speed and energy efficiency." He also introduced, "Among these, the Atlas 960 liquid-cooled SuperPod is planned for release in the third quarter of next year."
While the existing Atlas 950 SuperPod connects up to 8,192 Neural Processing Units (NPUs), the Atlas 960 SuperPod can connect 15,488 chips, and its training and computing performance are estimated to have improved by approximately 3 and 4 times, respectively, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Chairman Wang Tao sees 'Unified Bus' technology, which makes information sharing between chips more efficient, as a key link in next-generation large-scale AI systems.
He also stated, "The core of Huawei's AI strategy is computing," and "Through 'SuperPod Plus (+) clusters,' we will establish a robust computing power foundation for China and create new options for the world."
Previously, Guo Ping, Chairman of Huawei's highest supervisory body, the Audit Committee, also stated at a recent meeting with new employees that Huawei is focusing on connectivity and computing, adding, "Huawei's goal in this area is to become Nvidia."
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