Huawei quickens AI chip pace, promises next entrant 3 quarters early
Company says ‘performance-doubling’ Ascend 960DT training chip to debut in first quarter, followed by 960PR inference chip in third quarter
Huawei Technologies said on Thursday that it would launch its next-generation artificial intelligence chip in the first quarter of 2027, moving the target launch forward by nine months as the firm aggressively expands its ecosystem amid China’s self-sufficiency push.
David Wang Tao, rotating and acting chairman for Huawei, said on Thursday that the Ascend 960DT chip, an AI chip designed for model training, “with performance doubling”, would be “ready in the first quarter of 2027”, three quarters ahead of schedule. The Ascend 960PR, designed for AI model inference, would launch in the third quarter of 2027, a quarter earlier than expected.
Speaking at the Huawei Connect 2026 conference in Shanghai, Wang said that the Ascend series would “continue to follow an annual upgrade cycle”, with the Ascend 970 and 980 launching in 2028 and 2029, respectively.
The announcements came ahead of expected high-level trade talks between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump next week, where AI and semiconductor exports are set to top the technology agenda.