The computing power of Huawei Cloud's own servers increased by 250% in just one year
As you know, the United States is concerned about China's growing technological power and has consistently tried to restrict the import of artificial intelligence chips into the country. They even tried to ban the export of a relatively simple Nvidia H20 processor. In the end, China refused to buy this chip itself, as it has better alternatives.
First, let's face it, it's very difficult to impose effective sanctions on small, mass-produced electronics. We see Sony cameras in Russian reconnaissance UAVs, Siemens industrial controllers control uranium enrichment in Iran, and China has no problem buying H100s through shell companies.
Second, China has established its own production of powerful electronics. According to Huawei Cloud CEO Zhang Ping'an, the computing power of Ascend AI Cloud services increased by almost 250% over the year. The number of customers increased from 321 to 1,714. Even though the power of Huawei server processors is slightly inferior to the top solutions from Nvidia, they can be produced in China in unlimited quantities.
Huawei is building a network of computing centres codenamed Gui'an, Ulanqab, Horqin, and Wuhu. Gui'an already has a CloudMatrix 384 supernode, which combines 384 Ascend NPUs and 192 Kunpeng CPUs - with a total capacity of up to 300 PFlops of performance and allows training more than 1,300 large language models simultaneously. All 432 supernodes form a single AI cluster with 160,000 cards that has been running smoothly for over two years.
The centres in Gui'an and Ulanqab support more than 1,000 AI applications daily, mostly in the financial sector. A new node in Wuhu, launched in April, is designed for global customers.
Washington sees the problem, but judging by its inconsistent and ineffective actions, it has no idea what to do. Any restriction on supplies leads to an unexpected surge in domestic production or a flourishing of illegal supply channels. Despite threats and bans, American businesses use every opportunity to move technology to China and finance development.
Source: www.ithome.com
