{"slug": "huawei-to-launch-two-new-ai-chips-in-2027-targets-nvidia-with-unifiedbus", "title": "Huawei to Launch Two New AI Chips in 2027, Targets Nvidia with UnifiedBus", "summary": "Huawei Technologies rotating chairman David Wang announced on Thursday that the company will release two new AI chips in 2027 — the Ascend 960DT in the first quarter and the Ascend 960PR in the third quarter — built around its proprietary UnifiedBus interconnect, which Wang said \"will be key to Huawei's next generation of large AI computing systems.\" Wang also disclosed that Huawei has shipped more than 1,000 of its AI computing systems to over 370 customers, positioning the company as the most credible challenger to Nvidia's AI accelerator dominance, particularly in China where U.S. sanctions have restricted access to chips like the H100 and H200. Huawei has not released detailed specifications, pricing, or performance benchmarks for the two chips.", "body_md": "**September 17, 2026, (Inside AI) —** Huawei Technologies will release two new artificial intelligence chips in 2027, the company's rotating chairman David Wang announced on Thursday, sharpening its challenge to Nvidia in the global AI computing market.\n\nThe **Ascend 960DT** is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027, followed by the **Ascend 960PR** in the third quarter. Wang framed the launches around UnifiedBus, a proprietary interconnect technology he described as central to Huawei's next generation of large-scale AI computing systems.\n\n\"UnifiedBus will be key to Huawei's next generation of large AI computing systems, helping connect large numbers of chips to work together.\" **David Wang, rotating chairman, Huawei Technologies.**\n\nWang also disclosed that Huawei has shipped more than **1,000** of these systems to over **370** customers, a figure that signals the company's growing footprint in AI infrastructure despite export controls.\n\nThe announcement matters because Huawei is the most credible challenger to Nvidia's dominance in AI accelerators, particularly in China, where U.S. sanctions have restricted access to advanced chips like the [H100 and H200](https://insideai.news/news/ai-hardware-infrastructure/nvidia-h200-chips-reach-china-in-small-shipments-ft-reports/8148/). By committing to a 2027 roadmap, Huawei is signaling that it intends to compete not just on chip design but on the system level, where interconnect and cluster architecture often determine real-world performance.\n\nUnifiedBus appears to be Huawei's answer to Nvidia's NVLink, a high-speed interconnect that allows multiple GPUs to function as a single, more powerful unit. Training large language models requires thousands of chips working in parallel, and the efficiency of that communication can make or break a data center's throughput. Huawei's emphasis on UnifiedBus suggests it sees system integration as a differentiator, not just raw chip specs.\n\nThe 960DT and 960PR will likely target different workloads. The \"DT\" designation may indicate a variant optimized for training, while \"PR\" could signal a part tuned for inference or a specific performance profile. Huawei has not released detailed specifications, and Inside AI could not independently verify the performance claims or the exact positioning of each chip.\n\nWhat is clear is that Huawei is building on the [Ascend 910 series](https://insideai.news/news/ai-hardware-infrastructure/deepseek-huawei-ascend-cluster/9823/), which already powers clusters in Chinese data centers. The company has faced manufacturing constraints due to U.S. export restrictions, but it has increasingly relied on domestic fabrication partners and advanced packaging techniques to keep its roadmap alive.\n\nThe customer numbers Wang cited, over 370 clients and 1,000 systems shipped, offer a rare glimpse into adoption. These are not pilot projects. They represent real deployments, likely across cloud providers, research institutions, and state-linked enterprises in China. That scale gives Huawei a feedback loop to refine its software stack, particularly its CANN toolkit, which competes with Nvidia's CUDA ecosystem.\n\nHuawei's push comes as China accelerates its self-sufficiency drive in semiconductors. The company's ability to ship AI systems at this volume, despite sanctions, underscores how the restrictions have inadvertently spurred domestic innovation. It also raises questions about the long-term effectiveness of export controls as a tool to slow China's AI progress.\n\nFor global AI companies, Huawei's 2027 roadmap is a reminder that the hardware landscape is not static. Nvidia remains dominant, but alternatives are emerging, and buyers in regions outside U.S. influence may increasingly weigh Huawei's offerings. The competition could eventually pressure prices and accelerate innovation, even if Huawei's chips remain largely confined to China for now.\n\nWang's remarks did not include details on pricing, performance benchmarks, or manufacturing partners. Huawei typically reveals such specifics closer to launch. The company is also expected to expand its AI cloud services and partner ecosystem around the new chips.\n\nAs 2027 approaches, the key question is whether Huawei can translate its system-level ambitions into chips that match Nvidia's latest generations. The 960DT and 960PR will be the first real test of that strategy at scale.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/huawei-to-launch-two-new-ai-chips-in-2027-targets-nvidia-with-unifiedbus", "canonical_source": "https://insideai.news/news/ai-hardware-infrastructure/huawei-ai-chips-2027/12117/", "published_at": "2026-09-17 05:12:42+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-17 16:23:25.917967+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-chips", "ai-infrastructure", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Huawei Technologies", "David Wang", "Nvidia", "Ascend 960DT", "Ascend 960PR", "UnifiedBus", "Ascend 910", "CANN"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/huawei-to-launch-two-new-ai-chips-in-2027-targets-nvidia-with-unifiedbus", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/huawei-to-launch-two-new-ai-chips-in-2027-targets-nvidia-with-unifiedbus.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/huawei-to-launch-two-new-ai-chips-in-2027-targets-nvidia-with-unifiedbus.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/huawei-to-launch-two-new-ai-chips-in-2027-targets-nvidia-with-unifiedbus.jsonld"}}