{"slug": "huawei-quickens-ai-chip-pace-promises-next-entrant-3-quarters-early", "title": "Huawei quickens AI chip pace, promises next entrant 3 quarters early", "summary": "Huawei Technologies said on Thursday that its next-generation Ascend 960DT AI training chip will launch in the first quarter of 2027, nine months ahead of schedule, according to rotating and acting chairman David Wang Tao. Wang told the Huawei Connect 2026 conference in Shanghai that the Ascend 960PR inference chip will follow in the third quarter of 2027, a quarter earlier than expected, with the Ascend 970 and 980 due in 2028 and 2029 under an annual upgrade cycle. The announcements precede expected high-level trade talks between President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Donald Trump next week, where AI and semiconductor exports are set to top the technology agenda.", "body_md": "# Huawei quickens AI chip pace, promises next entrant 3 quarters early\n\nCompany says ‘performance-doubling’ Ascend 960DT training chip to debut in first quarter, followed by 960PR inference chip in third quarter\n\nHuawei 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.\n\nDavid 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.\n\nSpeaking 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.\n\nThe 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.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/huawei-quickens-ai-chip-pace-promises-next-entrant-3-quarters-early", "canonical_source": "https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3367832/huawei-quickens-ai-chip-pace-promises-next-entrant-3-quarters-early?utm_source=rss_feed", "published_at": "2026-09-17 06:36:28+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-17 06:53:18.429062+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-chips", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Huawei Technologies", "Ascend 960DT", "Ascend 960PR", "David Wang Tao", "Ascend 970", "Ascend 980", "Xi Jinping", "Donald Trump"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/huawei-quickens-ai-chip-pace-promises-next-entrant-3-quarters-early", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/huawei-quickens-ai-chip-pace-promises-next-entrant-3-quarters-early.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/huawei-quickens-ai-chip-pace-promises-next-entrant-3-quarters-early.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/huawei-quickens-ai-chip-pace-promises-next-entrant-3-quarters-early.jsonld"}}