Huawei Takes on Nvidia with New 950PR AI Chip, Secures Orders from Big Tech Giants

Huawei is making a fresh push into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market, and early signs suggest it may finally be gaining traction with China’s biggest technology companies. According to sources familiar with the matter, firms such as ByteDance and Alibaba are planning to place orders for new AI chip of Huawei, known as the 950PR. This marks an important step forward for the company as it seeks to compete with global chip leader Nvidia.

In recent years, Huawei has faced challenges convincing major private-sector companies to adopt its earlier AI chips in large numbers. Even though the Chinese government has encouraged the use of locally produced semiconductors, many firms continued to rely on Nvidia’s products due to their strong performance and compatibility with widely used software systems. Huawei’s previous flagship chip, the Ascend 910C, did not see widespread adoption among large tech firms.

Huawei Takes on Nvidia with New 950PR AI Chip, Secures Orders from Big Tech Giants

This situation appears to be changing with the introduction of the 950PR. One of the main reasons is improved compatibility with Nvidia’s CUDA software system. CUDA has become a standard platform for AI development, and many engineers are already familiar with it. By making its new chip more compatible with this system, Huawei is lowering the barrier for companies to switch or diversify their hardware choices.

Another improvement is better response speed, which is particularly important for AI inference tasks. Inference refers to the stage where trained AI models are used to generate answers or perform real-world tasks. As more companies move from developing AI models to actually deploying them in products and services, the demand for efficient inference computing is growing rapidly.

Huawei is planning to ship around 750,000 units of the 950PR this year. Samples were reportedly sent to potential customers in January, and mass production is expected to begin soon. Full-scale shipments could start in the second half of the year if everything goes according to plan.

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The timing of this launch is also significant. NVIDIA has been facing restrictions on selling some of its most advanced AI chips in China due to concerns from the United States government about potential military applications. Although certain models have received conditional approval, uncertainty remains about their availability. This has created an opportunity for domestic alternatives like Huawei’s new chip.

In terms of pricing, the 950PR will cost around 50,000 yuan (about $6,900) per card for the standard version. A higher-end variant with faster memory will cost around 70,000 yuan. While the chip may not offer a major leap in raw computing power compared to its predecessor, it is designed to perform well in practical, real-world AI workloads.

Overall, Huawei’s new chip represents a strategic shift. Instead of focusing only on peak performance, the company is prioritizing usability, compatibility, and efficiency. If major tech firms follow through with their planned orders, the 950PR could help Huawei strengthen its position in the competitive AI hardware market and reduce China’s reliance on foreign technology.