In order to satisfy the growing demand for advanced technologies, Baidu announced it is ordering AI chips from Huawei.
After the imposition of more stringent export restrictions by the US, this step takes place under increasing pressure on Chinese companies.
According to report from Reuters claims.
Baidu, one of China’s most important artificial intelligence companies, decided what was bound by the new rules for chip exports to China, including from Nvidia, said sources familiar with the matter.
It proves that some businesses are considering leaving the US business, even though it’s a small order.
Nvidia had clients in China, such as Baidu and its other Chinese competitors, like Alibaba and Tencent.
In order to ensure that its AI platform and Huawei hardware are compatible, Huawei has been working with Baidu since 2020.
In August, the two companies announced they would improve compatibility between the Baidu Ernie AI model and the Huawei Ascend chips.
Baidu is developing a line of Kunlun Artificial Intelligence Chips that the company claims can support big-scale AI computing. However, it mostly depends on an Nvidia A100 chip for its learning algorithms.
Baidu had to seek alternative solutions because the US imposed restrictions on chip exports.
Regarding performance, Huawei’s Ascend chips are still considered inferior to Nvidia’s, but they’re the most advanced local option in China.
Huawei was once in a race with Apple and Samsung to be the world’s biggest handset maker until the US imposed restrictions.
It started to reduce its access to chip production tools that are needed to manufacture the most advanced models back in 2019.
Now, the company has released its Mate Pro 60, which is set to become a rival to Apple again for its Satellite Calling functionality.