In an unusual show of unity, several Chinese AI chips have formed an alliance to counter Nvidia’s renewed influence in China. StepFun, a top-six language-model startup in China, launched in Shanghai the “AI Chip Ecosystem Alliance”with partners such as Huawei Ascend and Cambricon. These companies are direct competitors of Nvidia, both in the GPU and AI chip market.
This alliance aims at optimizing StepFun’s Step 3 foundational model for domestic chips. These chips are often limited in performance and have no access to advanced manufacturing. Step 3 is designed for local chips to run efficiently without requiring high computing power or memory bandwidth. The partnership follows the US tightening export restrictions that temporarily halted Nvidia AI chip sales to China. The H20 chip from Nvidia is now available for export. However, the alliance shows China’s increasing push to become self-sufficient in AI infrastructure.[
