Amid the buzz of Nvidia H200 sales in China, the Chinese authorities have added Huawei and Cambricon AI chips to the official procurement list for the first time. It looks like the new steps are the beginning of a new tech war between US and China.
Procurement List refers to a detailed catalog of products or services a firm or government needs to acquire. It simply outlines what to buy, from whom, at what price, and how it can help to meet business goals or serve as a benefit to the country.
Financial Times notes that China has listed native AI chips (from Huawei as well as Cambricon) for the first time on the procurement section. It recently added MIIT-approved processors, which include some leading players.
China took this step to hype the in-house AI chipsets over H200 processors in the public sector. The US has now shown a green light to Nvidia to sell its AI semiconductors in one of its biggest markets. And China is now working on a counterattack.
Interestingly, this particular move will further help China generate billions of dollars in extra revenue for local chipmakers, as the news came right after US approval.
Since Huawei can easily deliver H200-like performance, China has listed its AI Ascend processors on the procurement list. Even though the Beijing authorities have yet to publish the list, they have already instructed local firms about this move.
Based on these tactics, Huawei Ascend chips will become more identical in the AI market. This will also push native customers to pick domestic AI products instead of Nvidia H200.
Moreover, Huawei is constantly making efforts to achieve a high-level chip performance. It would be worth seeing when things will turn favorable for the company.
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