China’s Huawei Technologies is getting ready to test its newest AI processor, which the company believes is powerful enough to replace high-end chips from U.S. rival Nvidia, whose top-tier products are prohibited from export to China due to a trade embargo. Huawei’s AI ambitions suggest a superpower competition over semiconductors gearing up despite the U.S. government’s attempt to stymie Beijing. Huawei expects to receive its first samples of its latest AI processor, the Ascend 910D, as early as next month, and is reportedly casting about for tech firms capable of testing it out.

“Huawei hopes that the latest iteration of its Ascend AI processors will be more powerful than Nvidia’s H100, a popular chip used for AI training that was released in 2022,” writes The Wall Street Journal, noting “the development is still at an early stage, and a series of tests will be needed to assess the chip’s performance and get it ready for customers.”

Shenzhen-based Huawei has emerged as China’s leading contender in AI processor technology, a field led by the U.S.

China has since 2020 been under been under U.S. restrictions for advanced computer parts, including high-end chips. “Earlier this month, Washington added Nvidia’s H20 chip — the most advanced processor the company could sell in China without a license — to a growing list of semiconductors whose sales are restricted there,” reports WSJ, noting “Nvidia said it would take a $5.5 billion charge as a result.”

WSJ writes Huawei has shown surprising resilience, “show[ing] its ability to shrug off American restrictions by releasing a high-end smartphone in 2023.”

“Nvidia is the world’s most valuable chipmaker with a market capitalization of about $2.6 trillion, but its shares are down 22.5 percent this year in the face of Trump’s escalating trade war with China,” Quartz explains.

MarketWatch says U.S. export restrictions could result in “ceding the Chinese AI market to Huawei.

This year, Huawei is set to ship over 800,000 of its current Ascend 910B and 910C chips to Chinese companies, WSJ reports. Beijing is encouraging Chinese AI developers and data centers “to increase purchases of domestic chips.”

Huawei said its Ascend 920 chip will enter mass production by the end of this year, writes TechRadar, noting that “although real-world benchmarks are not yet available, the Ascend 920’s specifications suggest it could be an effective alternative to Nvidia’s H20 and may be welcomed by Chinese companies like Tencent and ByteDance, which will now require substitutes for the restricted chip.”