Huawei Founder Admits Lack of Superiority in Chip Technology, Leans on Clustering Strategy
Huawei's founder plays down the capabilities of their in-house processors. - Huawei's founder discusses the robustness of their in-house chip technology.
Taking a laid-back approach during the ongoing trade talks between China and the U.S., Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei admitted that Huawei's individual chips are "a generation behind" their U.S. counterparts. In an interview with the People's Daily, Ren emphasized that the U.S. is merely inflating the firm's technological prowess.
Ren contends that a multitude of Chinese companies are working tirelessly on chip development, with Huawei being one of the promising players in the league. The recent warnings issued by U.S. chipmaker Nvidia about the American restrictions on shipments to China have paved the way for Huawei to seize new market shares, especially in the field of AI chips.
Aggregating Chips for Boosted Performance
The nor'easter of trade dialogues in London between the U.S. and Chinese delegations drew attention to Ren's remarks, as both parties deliberated on eliminating trade barriers since Monday. The looming concern of China's export controls on rare earths lingers heavily on the U.S., hoping for leniency from the Chinese government. In exchange, the U.S. could possibly ease trade restrictions in areas such as computer chips or aircraft components, where China is heavily reliant on foreign technology.
Ren disclosed that Huawei is embracing a strategy called "clustering." Essentially, the approach involves combining multiple chips to create superior computational power, compensating for the shortcomings of individual chips.
- Huawei
- USA
- Ren Zhengfei
- Trade conflict
- China
- Trade talks
- London
- Nvidia
The clustering strategy, which Huawei considers a lifeline, is a purposely devised approach to surmount the enduring discrepancy in raw semiconductor technology between its own chips and the leading U.S. firms [2][3][4]. Despite these persistent deficiencies, Huawei is fortifying its position in the market through architectural and software breakthroughs, ultimately demonstrating noticeable competitiveness.
Characteristics of Huawei's Clustering Strategy
- Networked Computing: By joining Ascend chips into large-scale networks, Huawei amps up the overall system performance. By assembling hundreds of chips, for example, in the AI CloudMatrix 384 system, Huawei compensates for the performance deficits of individual chips and, in certain scenarios, exceeds the performance of advanced systems from competitors like Nvidia [2][3][1].
- Software Optimization: With the MindSpore framework custom-built for Huawei's Da Vinci architecture, the platform now integrates popular AI development environments, like TensorFlow and PyTorch. By expanding the acceptability of its hardware, Huawei attracts more businesses, further bolstering the ecosystem and propelling demand for its chips [1].
- Integrated Chip Architecture: Unifying multiple chips into single modules, like the Ascend 910B into a 910C, Huawei escalates the computational power and efficiency within existing manufacturing constraints, bypassing certain limitations enforced through export controls [1].
Ren's strategic vision involves employing mathematics to enhance physics, circumventing Moore's Law, and utilizing cluster computing to outperform single chips. This method prioritizes system-level innovation, capitalizing on software, efficient interconnects, and large-scale integration rather than relying solely on cutting-edge process nodes [2][3][1].
While Huawei's chip yields remain below optical standards (around 40% compared to 60% for industry leaders) and its 7nm manufacturing lags behind TSMC's 5nm processes, the clustering strategy enables Huawei to build high-performance AI systems suited to real-world applications [1][2]. Huawei's continuing investment in R&D – over $25 billion annually, with a significant allocation dedicated to theoretical research – speaks volumes of its determination to foster long-term, fundamental innovation rather than pursue short-term imitations.
In summary, Huawei's clustering strategy propels the company to counterbalance chip technology limitations by maximizing system-level efficiency and leveraging software and architectural advancements, staying competitive in the global AI and semiconductor markets amid trade conflicts [2][3][1].
- Despite Admiting that Huawei's individual chips are a generation behind their U.S. counterparts, Ren Zhengfei, the founder of Huawei, professes confidence in the company's clustering strategy as a potential lifeline to overcome the enduring technology discrepancy.
- To maintain competitiveness in the global AI and semiconductor markets, Huawei's strategic clustering approach emphasizes system-level innovation, focusing on software, efficient interconnects, large-scale integration, and mathematical enhancements to Physics rather than solely relying on cutting-edge process nodes.
