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Catherine Thorbecke, Columnist

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/Bloomberg

It 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.