Tech war: Shanghai AI chip maker with disgraced chairman is now China’s new hope in race to catch up with Nvidia
- The Tiangai 100 GPU, which took four years to develop and is used in cloud computing applications, has received US$33 million worth of orders so far
- The award marked a reversal in fortunes for Iluvatar Corex, whose chairman was implicated in a sweeping anti-graft case two months ago
A Shanghai graphics processing unit (GPU) start-up – whose chairman is under investigation for corruption – has received a state-backed award for innovation, prompting speculation that it is being groomed as a potential domestic substitute after US suppliers Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices were restricted from exporting high-end GPUs to China.
Iluvatar Corex, whose Tiangai 100 chip claims to be the only Chinese-made GPU in mass production, was recognised as a second place getter, along with two other local tech start-ups, in a competition run by the Shanghai municipal government. First prize in the “Maker in China” competition was awarded to Shanghai nanotechnology firm Nalinv.
The award marked a reversal in fortunes for Iluvatar Corex, which only two months ago was engulfed in scandal when its chairman, Diao Shijing, became the latest target in a sweeping anti-corruption probe into the Chinese semiconductor industry.
The company did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Diao.
The Tiangai 100 GPU, which took four years to develop and is used in cloud computing applications, has received 230 million yuan (US$33 million) worth of orders so far, the company announced at the 2022 World AI Conference in Shanghai earlier this month.
Enterprises that received awards in the competition will become preferred partners for future government projects, according to the competition organiser.