Chinese telecom giant Huawei showed off its ascend chips and systems to drive artificial intelligence models at the World AI Conference held in Shanghai on July 26, 2025.
CNBC | Evelyn Cheng
BEIJING – Less than two weeks after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s famous visit to Beijing, US chipmakers have stood out for their lack of China’s biggest AI event this year.
This month, despite new hopes to sell less advanced H20 chips again to China, Nvidia didn’t have a booth at the World AI Conference held on Saturday in Shanghai. The company declined to request CNBC’s comment.
In contrast, Nvidia’s Chinese rival Huawei had a large display focused on Ai Chips near the entrance to the venue. Huang calls Huawei “one of the world’s most frightening technology companies,” warning that if they’re stuck on export curbs in Beijing, they can replace China’s Nvidia.
The Telecoms giant has first unveiled the hardware of a computing system that tied together 384 rising chips to facilitate training and use of AI models. Huawei sells its products as “Atlas 900 A3 SuperPod.”
Earlier this year, research firm Semianalysis noted that while one rising chip may not be more powerful than Nvidia’s most advanced Blackwell chip, it is looking at a Huawei system similar to what was announced in Shanghai, with Nvidia stacking more chips than it does with the GB200 computing system. However, Huawei’s systems require much more power than Nvidia’s operation, which is why it is cost efficient, the report says.
Huawei is not the only Chinese player in the complex supply chain of advanced chips. For example, semiconductor designer Moores Red and startup Yunsilicon both had booths at the AI Expo Center in Shanghai.
Many exhibitors from startups to giants such as Tencent and Alibaba have shown AI applications for robotics, smart glasses and translation apps. Overall, there has been less talk of Nvidia having to bolster its products at Expo.
Internet Tech Company Netease’s Youdao Business used AI to display handheld bar devices to help students learn materials including university entrance exams.
According to Gao Huituan, product manager for Youdao’s educational learning hardware, the device currently uses both cloud-based AI and “edge” AI that runs on the device.
Going forward, he said the new AI chips will be more power efficient and can support a wide range of products.
Nvidia’s chips focus on cloud computing power, but “many domestically made, very good chip makers are working on some edge devices,” he translated by CNBC in Mandarin. “Everyone has relatively good computing power right now.”
Striking technical tension
Nvidia has become the world’s most valuable company, leading the latest generation AI breakthroughs and riding the demand for its chips.
The company had to halt sales to China in April due to new US restrictions due to stricter export controls over the past three years aimed at reducing China’s AI capabilities. The company has adjusted the H20 in China. Huang says it is a $50 billion market.
Tesla, Google, Amazon Web Services and Siemens were one of the US and European companies that had booths at AI conferences in Shanghai.
Nvidia held a booth in Beijing earlier this month at its annual supply chain meeting. This coincided with Huang’s third visit to China this year and news that the US could resume sales of H20 chips to China.
However, the company does not share when the shipment will begin or how many orders it has received from its Chinese customers.
“Nvidia is a model for short-term (AI) GPU development not only for H20 but also for flagship products like the GB300,” MorningStar senior equity analyst Felix Lee said in an email. “The return of the H20 will help NVIDIA remain a de facto standard for AI data center systems, especially when domestic alternatives are lurking.”
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Beijing has been working to increase technology self-sufficiency as it faces restrictions to access high-end technology. The weekend country also took another step towards promoting AI standards globally.
Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang announced plans for the global AI cooperation organization during his speech at the opening ceremony on Saturday. State media said the first headquarters is likely in Shanghai.
The plan comes days after US President Donald Trump announced the American Action Plan for AI, which includes a call to reduce the “awakening” bias in the AI model and support the deployment of US technology.
