Huawei Technologies is planning to test its latest and most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) processor, the Ascend 910D, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The move comes as the company intends to provide an alternative to some of the high-end products from US chipmaker Nvidia following US export restrictions.

People familiar with the matter told the publication that Huawei has approached several China-based tech companies to explore the Ascend 910D chip’s technical feasibility.

The company is expected to receive its first batch of sample processors by late May 2025, the report added.

Although still in the early stages of development, the chip is planned to undergo extensive testing to evaluate its performance before it is made available to customers, the sources added. 

One source said Huawei expects the Ascend 910D to surpass Nvidia’s H100, a widely used chip for AI training introduced in 2022. Previous versions of Huawei’s processor are known as the 910B and 910C.

In early April, the US government ruled that Nvidia needs an export licence to sell the H20.

As a result, Nvidia announced a $5.5bn charge related to the new controls.

The move has opened opportunities for Chinese companies such as Huawei and Beijing-based Cambricon Technologies, to expand their market share.

Huawei is expected to ship more than 800,000 Ascend 910B and 910C chips this year to a range of clients, including state-owned telecom carriers and private AI developers like ByteDance, according to sources.

Some customers have reportedly been negotiating increased orders of the 910C following the curbs on Nvidia’s H20.

Also in April, Huawei introduced the CloudMatrix 384, a computing system designed to connect 384 Ascend 910C chips.

Recently, Reuters reported that Huawei was planning to commence large-scale shipments of its 910C AI chip to domestic clients as early as May 2025.