The U.S. has tightened restrictions on foundries supplying 7nm and below chips to Chinese clients. According to a report from Economic Daily News, following TSMC’s suspension of services to restricted Chinese clients, rumors suggest that South Korea’s Samsung is also affected by U.S. restrictions, preventing it from offering such foundry services to Chinese firms.

Samsung’s foundry division has reportedly notified Chinese clients about the restrictions, according to the report. However, Samsung has declined to comment on these rumors.

As for Intel, since it is closely aligned with the U.S., the company is also expected to comply with U.S. regulations, as the report mentioned. This would lead to a comprehensive blockade of China’s effort to develop advanced AI chips, signaling a new chapter in the U.S.-China semiconductor confrontation, potentially reshaping the global semiconductor landscape.

The report pointed out that currently, only three companies—TSMC, Samsung, and Intel—are capable of providing foundry services below the 7nm process. China’s leading foundry, SMIC, claims to have 7nm production capability, but it lacks the necessary economies of scale and efficiency.

Citing industry sources, the report suggests that Alibaba’s AI chip subsidiary, T-Head, could be the most heavily impacted by the restrictions, indicating that, following Huawei, Alibaba has now also come under scrutiny by the White House. Along with T-head, other Chinese AI chip companies, such as Bitmain and Cambricon, are also likely to be impacted.

Fully owned by Alibaba, T-Head has made rapid progress in next-generation chip development, with its “Yitian” series reaching sub-5nm technology, as the report mentioned. The company claims that its technology supports applications across diverse fields, including AI in automotive, gaming, and scientific research.

The report indicated that as China’s path to self-developed AI chips encounters setbacks, it may be forced to rely on downgraded versions of AI chips from U.S. companies like NVIDIA and AMD to comply with American restrictions. This development, as the report noted, could undermine Beijing’s hopes of using domestically developed AI chips to circumvent U.S. limitations.

(Photo credit: Samsung)

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• [News] Four Key Takeaways on TSMC’s Reported Halt of 7nm and Below Chip Supplies to China
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As the U.S. and its allies continue to impose technology restrictions on China’s semiconductor sector, Beijing has accelerated its efforts to develop homegrown alternatives. Chinese firms are aggressively pursuing advanced AI chip development, aiming to rival Nvidia, the global leader in AI semiconductors. A recent CNBC report highlighted seven Chinese companies to watch, including Huawei and Alibaba.

Huawei, the first of Nvidia’s Chinese challengers, is gaining attention with its new Ascend 910C AI chip, which is expected to compete with Nvidia’s H100.

Alibaba follows closely behind. After acquiring C-Sky Microsystems in 2018, the company integrated it with its in-house chip division to form T-Head. In 2019, T-Head launched its first AI inference chip, the Hanguang 800, which has since been deployed at scale in Alibaba’s hyperscale data centers.

Baidu ranks third with its self-developed AI chip, Kunlun. The chip has matured significantly, and in June, Baidu received a strategic investment from Beijing’s AI Industry Investment Fund, marking the first time a state-owned entity has invested in an AI chip firm, boosting Baidu’s growth prospects.

Biren Technology, in fourth, focuses on GPUs like Nvidia, with a software platform to build applications on top of its hardware. Biren’s Bili series of chips are designed for AI training in data centers. Last week, Biren registered for IPO guidance with the Shanghai Securities Regulatory Bureau, marking the start of its public listing journey.

Cambricon Technologies, ranked fifth, designs a wide range of semiconductors, from chips that train AI models to those running AI applications on devices. Known as China’s first AI chip stock, Cambricon has faced setbacks since being blacklisted by the U.S. in late 2022, with reports of large-scale layoffs last year.

Moore Threads, founded in 2020, is developing GPUs for training large AI models. Its data center product, MTT KUAE, integrates GPUs and is aimed at competing with Nvidia.

Enflame Technology, the seventh company on the list, positions itself as a domestic alternative to Nvidia, focusing on AI training chips for data centers. Enflame began IPO guidance on August 26, and is expected to list on the STAR Market alongside Biren either by the end of this year or early next year.

(Photo credit: Huawei)

With AI giants in the Western world, such as OpenAI, Google and Meta, stealing the spotlight by their development of generative AI, some big names in China have introduced their AI models over the past 18 months, according to a latest report by CNBC.

Though trying to keep a low profile, five tech conglomerates in China, including Alibaba, Baidu, ByteDance, Huawei and Tencent, have launched their AI models lately, adding a new dimension to the competitive landscape of the ongoing tech rivalry between China and the U.S. Here is a brief introduction of the major Chinese AI models developed by the country’s leading tech firms, based on the information compiled by CNBC and other media reports.

Alibaba: Tongyi Qianwen

In November, 2023, a report by pandaily notes that Alibaba Cloud released its AI model, Tongyi Qianwen 1.0 a few months ago, while the 2.0 version was introduced later in the same year. Another report by South China Morning Post states that as of May, Alibaba reports that its Tongyi Qianwen AI models, often referred to as Qwen, are utilized by more than 90,000 corporate clients across China.

CNBC notes that in terms of Qwen, the company has developed various versions tailored to different functions. For instance, one model specializes in generating content or solving math problems, while another handles audio inputs and provides text-based responses.

It is worth noting that as some Qwen models are open-sourced, developers are allowed to download and use them under certain restrictions, according to CNBC.

Baidu: ERNIE

As one of China’s leading internet companies, Baidu was among the first to introduce generative AI applications in the country. A report by The Verge notes that the Ernie chatbot was available for download in August, 2023, after the approval by the Chinese government.

CNBC reports that Baidu intends to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT with Ernie Bot, as the company claims the bot to have 300 million users.

According to CNBC, ahead of the launch of its “Turbo” version, which took place in late June, Baidu stated that its Ernie 4.0 offers capabilities comparable to OpenAI’s GPT-4. According to Baidu, this foundational model has advanced understanding and reasoning abilities.

Similar to other companies, Baidu is offering access to its AI model through its cloud computing services, CNBC says.

ByteDance: Doubao

TikTok parent company ByteDance, though entered the AI race later than competitors like Baidu and Alibaba, has surprised the market with its low-cost Doubao model, which was launched in May, 2024.

According to a report by technode, the model can process 2 million Chinese characters, equivalent to 1.25 million tokens, for just RMB 1 (USD 0.14). In comparison, OpenAI’s latest multimodal model, GPT-4o, costs USD 5 per million input tokens.

CNBC notes that Doubao has various capabilities, including voice generation and coding support for developers.

Huawei: Pangu

Introduced by Huawei in 2021 as the world’s largest pre-trained Chinese large language models (LLMs) with over 100 billion parameters, the Pangu models are now entering their fourth iteration, according to Counterpoint. In May, 2024, the latest Pangu models are said to boast 230 billion parameters.

Interesting enough, Huawei has adopted a different strategy from its competitors with its Pangu AI models, CNBC remarks. The tech giant focuses on developing industry-specific models tailored to sectors like government, finance, manufacturing, mining, and meteorology.

For instance, Huawei claims that its Pangu Meteorology Model can predict a typhoon’s trajectory 10 days in advance in just 10 seconds, a task that previously took four to five hours, according to CNBC.

Tencent: Hunyuan

Last year, Tencent introduced its foundational model, Hunyuan, which is accessible through Tencent’s cloud computing services.

According to CNBC, Tencent has highlighted Hunyuan’s strong Chinese language processing abilities and advanced logical reasoning, supporting features like image generation and text recognition. The model is designed for use across industries such as gaming, social media, and e-commerce.

As the operator of China’s largest messaging app, WeChat, Tencent launched an AI chatbot this year based on the Hunyuan model. The AI assistant, named Yuanbao, can access information and content from WeChat, setting it apart from competitors, CNBC notes.

Notably, China’s large language models, just like its rivals in the West, rely on the strong computing power of AI chips. A previous report by Reuters in November, 2023, states that Tencent is said to have stockpiled a substantial reserve of AI chips from NVIDIA, as the company prepares in advance to train its Hunyuan AI models for the following generations.

How far will the tech giants in China be able to push the boundaries of AI models? The answer may lie in the development of the country’s domestic chips, as the U.S. authority already banned the export to China of AI chips.

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(Photo credit: Baidu)

According to a report from Nikkei on August 29, Apple is said to be betting that its first iPhone with Apple Intelligence will be a hit. Thus, the tech giant has requested suppliers to provide components for approximately 88 to 90 million iPhones, over 10% more than the initial component orders of 80 million units for new iPhones in 2023.

Reportedly, some component suppliers have received orders for more than 90 million iPhones. However, they also noted that Apple’s initial orders are typically larger, with adjustments made based on actual sales performance after the launch.

An industry source cited in the report expressed caution regarding Apple’s strong order volume, noting that geopolitical factors are likely to pose significant challenges for iPhone sales in China.

The report cited multiple sources, noting that Apple suppliers are generally cautious,  and forecasting that iPhone shipments for the year will likely be flat, due to the high comparison base from 2023.

In late 2022, COVID-19 has caused disruptions in Zhengzhou, China, the world’s largest iPhone manufacturing hub, resulting in the delay in iPhone shipments to the first half of 2023.

On the other hand, it is still unclear how Apple Intelligence will operate in China, as Apple has yet to finalize agreements with any Chinese AI companies.

While OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, is available in countries like the United States, it is not accessible in China. To introduce similar AI functionalities, Apple will likely need to collaborate with Chinese AI companies.

A previous report from Economic Daily News once indicated that Apple has been in discussions with Baidu, Alibaba Group, and Beijing-based startup Baichuan AI, but no agreements have been confirmed yet.

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(Photo credit: Apple)

According to a report from global media outlet Financial Times citing sources, Chinese authorities plan to implement mandatory reviews of large AI models. Reportedly, Chinese government officials are testing the large language models of AI companies to ensure that the systems embody core socialist values.

The Cyberspace Administration of China is said to have required major tech companies such as ByteDance, Alibaba, Moonshot, and 01.AI, as well as AI startups, to participate in these mandatory reviews.

Sources indicate that this effort involves testing a range of responses from the large AI  models, including those on politically sensitive topics in China and related to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Officials from the Cyberspace Administration of China’s local branches are conducting the reviews, examining the models’ training data and other security processes.

A Hangzhou-based AI company reported that the Cyberspace Administration has dedicated teams for this task, who visit offices to conduct audits. The company mentioned that their first review did not pass, and after months of adjustments and communication with peers, they passed the second review.

Regarding the aforementioned matter, the Cyberspace Administration, ByteDance, Alibaba, Moonshot, Baidu, and 01.AI have not yet responded.

(Photo credit: Alibaba)

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