Huawei unveils Atlas 960, signalling China's faster AI chip push

Huawei unveiled the Atlas 960 and outlined new Ascend chip plans in Shanghai. The move signals China's faster AI advance despite US restrictions and deepens rivalry with America.

Chinese technology giant Huawei has unveiled new chip technologies that take on global leaders such as Nvidia, in a move that highlights the narrowing gap between China and the US in artificial intelligence.

The announcement was made on Thursday at Huawei's annual key conference in Shanghai, days before an expected meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington on September 24. It also comes as China pushes technological self-reliance after US-led restrictions cut off access to some of the world's most advanced AI chips and chipmaking machines.

At the event, Huawei introduced the Atlas 960 SuperPoD computing cluster, a faster successor to the Atlas 950 SuperPod launched late last year. The company said the new system brings improvements in AI training and in "inference", the stage at which a trained AI system makes predictions or decisions.

Huawei also said it plans to launch the Ascend 970 and 980 chip series in 2028 and 2029, with expectations of major gains in computing power. The quick arrival of the Atlas 960 drew attention among technology analysts because it came soon after the earlier model.

"The timing - less than two weeks before President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington - underscores Beijing's confidence and ambition in technology and innovation," said George Chen, a partner and chair of digital practice at The Asia Group consultancy. Huawei's announcement also came as Trump played down calls from AI leaders to slow the technology's development for safety reasons. He said the US must keep its lead over China, adding that "whoever wins in AI, wins."

Chen also said, "AI developments move so quickly that no one can be certain of holding the lead forever." Analysts said advanced work in China, including the training of AI models, still often depends on US chips such as those made by Nvidia. At the same time, Huawei has developed its own advanced chips and retains an edge over other Chinese chipmakers as more AI companies in China turn to domestic chips.

Summing up the latest developments, Huawei used its Shanghai conference to showcase faster AI hardware, lay out plans for future chip series, and signal China's continued push in the sector despite US restrictions. Chen said, "The fact that Huawei achieved this upgrade in just a year, far quicker than before, will only heighten US anxiety about the accelerating AI competition."