[News] Huawei, OrangePi Introduced Kunpeng Pro, with Mystery AI Processor Packaged Inside

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Huawei, in collaboration with Orange Pi, an open source product brand of Shenzhen Xunlong Software, have unveiled their latest brandchild, OrangePi Kunpeng Pro development board. Though the specifics of the product have been hidden from public, an AI processor is said to be integrated into the package, indicating that Huawei’s Kunpeng chipsets have been progressing into the AI realm, according to a report from tom’s Hardware.

The Kunpeng Pro development board, an alternative of Raspberry Pi, is reported to be powered by a quad-core 64-bit Arm processor and an AI processor integrated into the same package. However, details of these processors remain undisclosed.

This is a tactic Huawei has employed previously to deter Western scrutiny. Huawei has been facing strict sanctions from the U.S. government, restricting its access to certain chips and chip-making technologies. On May 7th, the U.S. authority revoked the licenses of Intel and Qualcomm to supply semiconductor chips used in laptops and handsets to Huawei, which took immediate effect.

The development board is reported to be designed for a diverse user base, including consumers, developers, and students. It comes preinstalled with the openEuler OS, the openGauss database, and a range of internet, productivity, and software development tools.

Tom’s Hardware has learned that Kunpeng Pro uses a custom Huawei Kunpeng CPU that is paired with an AI FPGA processor. The CPU is believed to be a quad-core ARM model, while the AI FPGA processor is reportedly to offer 8 TOPS (Trillions or Tera Operations per Second) of AI computing power.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite, launched in late 2023, delivers peak AI computing performance of 45 TOPS, while Apple’s M4, released in early May, is rated at 38 TOPS.

(Photo credit: Orange Pi)