Editor’s note: Thomas W. Pauken II is the author of “US vs. China: From Trade War to Reciprocal Deal”, consultant on Asia-Pacific affairs and geopolitical commentator. The article reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies Co. is fast becoming a high-tech powerhouse for China and our world today. The company stands as a global pioneer for the science and high technology industries. Huawei is forging ahead with outstanding advancements in AI (artificial intelligence) and supercomputing. Earlier this week, Huawei held its annual conference for its partners and developers.
The company announced big plans as it released further details on its efforts to dabble in artificial intelligence (AI), supercomputing and smart technologies, while integrating them all into digital ecosystems, while continuing to develop its Kunpeng and Ascend processors. As a result, US sanctions on Huawei, introduced by the Donald Trump administration in 2018, have not blocked the company’s abilities to pursue breakthrough new technologies.
Huawei has led the charge in recent years by advancing 5G and 6G networks to increase wifi speeds and memory storage with a more localized ecosystem of hardware and software technologies. Amid the crisis, the company continues to innovate in the development of its chips, micro-processors and many other applications that will put Huawei in a very strong position in AI and supercomputing in the future. predictable.
Meanwhile, the high-tech industry is highly integrated and requires close cooperation with many other companies around the world. This is how global supply chains work. Huawei has to rely on its commercial partnerships – more than 4,500 – to collaborate on applications that have been connected to their Kunpeng and Ascend series processor projects, alone.
The Shenzhen-based company acknowledged that it still has a long way to go in developing AI, but it has made substantial progress.
“AI application scenarios for China’s IT (information technology) industry are potentially countless, but the foundation is not yet strong enough,” said Hu Houkun, rotating chairman of Huawei, to China Daily. “Local core technologies such as high-end chip techniques and fundamental software systems need to strengthen.”
Reaching the “roots” of progress
In order for Huawei to advance its AI and supercomputing to much higher levels, they have deployed their research and development (R&D) teams to focus on so-called “root” technologies in the computing sector to accelerate the development of various new applications.
Huawei dug deep into the “roots” with their respective Ascend series, which are AI processors and Kunpeng processors for servers. They root in Ascend chips, Huawei AI Atlas computing solution offering a broad product portfolio including modules, boards, servers and clusters to form an all-in-one AI infrastructure through the linked cloud process. to the device to enhance AI deep learning. .
The Hi1710 BMC management chip, seen on a Kunpeng 920 chipset designed by Huawei’s Hisilicon subsidiary, is displayed at Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China May 29, 2019. /Reuters
The Hi1710 BMC management chip, seen on a Kunpeng 920 chipset designed by Huawei’s Hisilicon subsidiary, is displayed at Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China May 29, 2019. /Reuters
Kunpeng processors have multi-core and high-concurrency advantages with technologies based on the ARM architecture, a chip designed by Arm Holdings of the United Kingdom. The new developments have opened the door for Huawei to integrate AI into new technology areas that can increase operational efficiency and reduce business costs for enterprises, while driving increased demand for supercomputing.
Therefore, Huawei targets three fundamental “roots” – key elements: algorithms, data and computing, which are considered the foundation of AI. And in order for the company to succeed here, they poured in huge funds by closely linking academic research and industrial applications. Huawei is also working with the Chinese Ministry of Education and a number of universities. They have founded 72 incubation bases offering over 1,500 courses to over 300,000 students to teach AI, industrial systems, and data technologies and trends.
Interconnected AI computer networks
Huawei’s R&D strategy has proven to be very effective. The company invests more than 10% of its sales revenue in R&D and in 2021 alone, R&D expenditure was 142.7 billion yuan ($21.3 billion), or 22.4 % of its total revenue. Huawei’s total R&D spending jumped more than 845 billion yuan ($126 billion) over the past decade. The company remains forward-thinking and sees great opportunities in AI computer networks.
On Wednesday, Huawei launched its nationwide AI network that connects the computing capabilities of nine major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hangzhou, among others. The China Computing Net serves as a prototype for a future national AI computing network that will become just as essential as water and electricity resources.
The city’s new data centers have been fully integrated with each other to share computing capabilities. Users, mainly research groups and industrial companies, can perform artificial intelligence and computer tasks in the network, which paves the way for many other remarkable advances in building computing power infrastructures. in China. The Chinese government sees the benefits.
“It becomes a support for the rapid development of the digital economy and a solid foundation for independent innovation,” said Mei Jianpeng, vice director of the high-tech department of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, quoted in the media. .
The China Computing Net will play an important role in the development of “smart cities”, which integrate digital technologies for better urban management. Moreover, the trend of “smart cities” enjoys great popularity around the world.
The UAE has partnered with Huawei to help position Dubai as an international hub for the impending Fourth Industrial Revolution. The UAE aims to use AI for applications with much deeper integration in the areas of automated manufacturing and smart city capabilities to create a more competitive economy.
Huawei occupies a “position of strength”
AI is the true face of the future. Those who succeed in developing or adapting AI technologies can become the superstars of tomorrow’s world. The wide and varied uses of AI will impact all of us.
We could soon see the day when all the metropolises of the world will transform into a “smart city”. AI serves as a great connector to cloud services, wifi, smart technologies, electronic communications and much more.
Huawei has played a leading role in promoting AI for mobile device users, as well as enhancing automated manufacturing. The Chinese government’s deep support for 5G and 6G networks has paved the way for a better future not only for Huawei but also for all Chinese people and much of the world. The new era will be embedded in AI and China will not be left behind as Huawei is heading in the right direction.
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