Nvidia is now a leader in the AI ​​industry, but the company knows that competitors are lurking. CEO Jensen Huang names Huawei as a party to keep an eye on.

Huang is one of the tech figures of 2023. Just a week after we saw him on stage at AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas, the Nvidia CEO is now touring Asia. He spoke to the press during his visit to Singapore. There can be no question of negligence on the part of Huang and Nvidia: “We have many competitors for whom it doesn’t matter where I am,” stated the CEO.

One potential competitor that Huang actually describes as “formidable” is Huawei. This may not be the first name that comes to mind when talking about chips and GPUs, so this requires some context. Since the American trade ban came into effect, Chinese and American technology companies are no longer allowed to trade. This is annoying for Huawei, but also for Nvidia.

Beijing Express

The Chinese market accounted for about twenty percent of Nvidia’s total revenue, which is currently going up in smoke (although the company will overcome this). The restrictions apply primarily to Nvidia’s highest-quality GPUs, such as the H100, which represents a generous cash cow for the manufacturer. Nvidia still sells modified GPUs with lower performance in China, which therefore make less money.

That still doesn’t explain why Huang is afraid of Huawei. Since Huawei no longer has access to “foreign” technology, the company has to rely on chip production, and the company seems to be doing quite well at that. Huawei surprised friend and foe with the processor in its latest Mate flagship, although the chip ultimately turned out to be not as miraculous as first thought and there may be a controversial side to it.

But Huawei is also relying on GPUs to close the gap that Nvidia has to leave behind. In this industry it would have already been possible to develop a chip that could compete with Nvidia’s A100. This chip is still a few steps below the Nvidia H100, but it shows that Huawei has its plan.

AMD is also participating

In the short term, Huang seems particularly concerned about AMD. The chipmaker introduced the Instinct MI300X and MI300A last night to compete with Nvidia. You can read a detailed overview of these chips here. Intel is also making frantic efforts, but if there’s one company right now that can break Nvidia’s monopoly, it’s AMD. In any case, multiple players are entering the AI ​​battlefield.