Huawei's AI Chip Dreams Are Bugged, Literally

Can China truly leapfrog Nvidia in AI when its best bet, Huawei, is plagued with bugs and performance issues?

China’s quest to rival the US in AI computing is hitting roadblocks — specifically in the form of Huawei’s glitch-ridden Ascend chips. With US export controls tightening, Huawei has emerged as the leader in AI chip alternatives, yet its customers, including Baidu and Tencent, are voicing frustrations over performance issues.

Inferior software, slower inter-chip connectivity, and frequent crashes are impeding the chips’ ability to compete with Nvidia, particularly for the critical task of training AI models. Even Huawei’s engineers admit that their software, Cann, is unstable and difficult to debug.

To mitigate this, Huawei has sent engineers on-site to assist customers like iFlytek and Baidu with the transition from Nvidia’s CUDA platform to Cann. Despite these setbacks, demand for Huawei chips is strong, but can they overcome these flaws before the AI race leaves them behind? Can customer service compensate for technical shortcomings in the battle for AI dominance?

Read the full article on Financial Times.

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