China’s key weapons in its AI battle with the U.S. — massive Huawei chip clusters and cheap energy

It’s well known that Chinese semiconductors designed for artificial intelligence cannot compete with the American firm Nvidia. Yet, China has managed to continue developing highly advanced AI models, with many being run on homegrown chips.

China’s secret? A plethora of cheap energy and giant chip clusters from the China’s tech champion Huawei that are underpinning AI advances in the country’s race against the U.S. “China is striving for self-sufficiency across the AI stack, as it sees AI as a strategic technology for national and economic security,” Wendy Chang, senior analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), told CNBC.

With the world’s second-largest economy being cut off from certain tech due to U.S. restrictions, and Beijing opting to shunNvidia chips, questions have swirled over its ability to compete in the field of AI.

Read more