Why Is Huawei Downplaying Its Chips?
High praise from Nvidia’s CEO aside, homegrown AI hardware in China is at a crossroads.
Keeping sight of the longer battle for tech supremacy is key.
Photographer: Raul Ariano/BloombergIt may seem like odd messaging from a tech chief. But Huawei Technologies Co. founder Ren Zhengfei said that Americans have “exaggerated” his company’s chip achievements, which “still lag behind the US by a generation.”
When it comes to the race for the hardware needed to support artificial intelligence, his company “isn’t that powerful yet,” Ren added in a lengthy front-page interview with the People’s Daily this week. Still, there is “no need to worry” about the US restrictions, he insisted. By bundling Huawei’s chips together, or so-called clustering, they can still match rival offerings from top global players.