Chinese tech giant Huawei has reportedly developed a powerful artificial intelligence chip that could rival high-end processors from US chip maker Nvidia.

The Shenzhen-based Huawei is poised to start testing a new AI chip called the Ascend 910D, and has approached local tech firms, which are slated to receive the first batch of sample chips by late May, The Wall Street Journal reported on April 27, citing people familiar with the matter.

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.

Huawei is pinning hopes on its latest Ascend AI processor being more powerful than Nvidia’s H100 chip, which was used for AI training in 2022.

Huawei is also poised to ship more than 800,000 earlier model Ascend 910B and 910C chips to customers, including state-owned telecoms operators and private AI developers such as TikTok parent ByteDance.

Beijing has also reportedly encouraged Chinese AI developers to increase purchases of domestic chips as trade tensions between China and the US escalate. 

In mid-April, Nvidia stated that it was expecting around $5.5 billion in charges associated with its AI chip inventory due to significant export restrictions imposed by the US government affecting its business with China. 

The Trump administration added Nvidia’s H20 chip, its most powerful processor that could be sold to China, to a growing list of semiconductors restricted for sale to the country.

Some key components for AI chips, such as the latest high-bandwidth memory units, have also been restricted for export to China by the US. 

Huawei is focusing on building more efficient and faster systems, such as CloudMatrix 384, a computing system unveiled in April, connecting Ascend 910C chips. This would leverage their chip arrays and use brute force rather than making individual processors more powerful.

China seeks self-reliance on AI

Reuters reported on April 26, citing state media reports, that Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged “self-reliance and self-strengthening” to develop AI in the country.

“We must recognise the gaps and redouble our efforts to comprehensively advance technological innovation, industrial development, and AI-empowered applications,” Xi said at a Politburo meeting study session on April 25.

Donald Trump (left) meeting with Xi Jinping (right) in 2018 at the G20. Source: Dan Scavino

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“We must continue to strengthen basic research, concentrate our efforts on mastering core technologies such as high-end chips and basic software, and build an independent, controllable, and collaborative artificial intelligence basic software and hardware system,” Xi added.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Xi to contact him for discussions about a potential trade deal after his administration imposed 145% tariffs on most Chinese goods. 

China has stated that it is not having any talks with the US and that the country should “stop creating confusion.”

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The Donald Trump-backed World Liberty Financial has signed a Letter of Intent with the Pakistan Crypto Council to accelerate crypto adoption in the South Asian country and one of the industry’s fastest-growing markets.

Under the partnership, World Liberty will help the Council launch regulatory sandboxes to test blockchain-based products, expand stablecoin applications for remittances and trade, explore real-world asset tokenization, and assist with the growth of decentralized finance protocols, local news outlet Business Recorder reported on April 27.

World Liberty founders Zach Witkoff, Zak Folkman and Chase Herro signed the letter in a recent meeting with the Council’s CEO Bilal bin Saqib, with Pakistan’s central bank governor, finance minister and IT secretary among those in attendance.

Source: Pakistan Crypto Council

Trump and his family backed World Liberty at the crypto lending and borrowing platform’s launch last year and they receive a cut of its profits.

The Pakistan Crypto Council is a government-backed body that oversees crypto regulation and related initiatives aimed at driving adoption and attracting more foreign investment.

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis ranked Pakistan ninth for crypto adoption last year, with an estimated 25 million active crypto users and $300 billion in annual crypto transactions. 

Pakistan is looking to capitalize on its young population, where roughly 60% are under 30, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said.

“Pakistan’s youth and technology sector are our greatest assets. Through partnerships like this, we are opening new doors for investment, innovation, and global leadership in the blockchain economy.”

Pakistan looks to balance pro-crypto innovation with regulation

The three World Liberty founders recently met with former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who was recently appointed as an adviser to the Pakistan Crypto Council to assist the country on crypto regulation and innovation.

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency also proposed a crypto regulatory framework on April 10, which looks to address terrorism financing, money laundering, and Know Your Customer controls.

Related: Pakistan Crypto Council proposes using excess energy for BTC mining

FIA Director Sumera Azam said the framework is part of a broader effort to strike a “balance between technological advancement and national security imperatives.”

The proposed framework is subject to legislative approval and input from crypto firms operating in the country, with an expected multi-phased rollout beginning in 2026.

Pakistan’s new crypto-friendly approach contrasts sharply with its stance in May 2023, when former finance minister Aisha Ghaus Pasha stated the country would never legalize cryptocurrencies due to concerns over bypassing Financial Action Task Force regulations.

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Coinbase has urged the US Office of Government Ethics to remove a rule banning Securities and Exchange Commission staff from holding crypto.

SEC staff need to use crypto to better understand how it works and the best way to regulate it, Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal argued in open letters sent to OGE acting director Jamieson Greer and newly sworn-in SEC Chair Paul Atkins, which he shared to X on April 25.

“To regulate technology, you need to understand it. To understand technology, you need to use it,” Grewal said in the letter to Greer.

“Permitting commission staff to hold crypto is essential to them developing the knowledge necessary to propose and adopt workable regulatory frameworks for digital securities activity,” he added.

Source: Paul Grewal

Legal Advisory 22-04, issued on July 4, 2022, by the OGE, prohibits SEC staff from buying, selling, or otherwise using crypto and stablecoins because they are not “publicly traded securities” and don’t qualify for an exception, unlike stocks.

SEC needs waivers for staff 

Grewal said US President Donald Trump directed the SEC and other agencies to submit recommendations for crypto regulations due in around 90 days, and SEC “staff still cannot use the technology on which they are making recommendations.”

He echoed a similar sentiment in his letter to Atkins and crypto-friendly SEC commissioner Hester Peirce, arguing being unable to hold crypto is a roadblock for the agency’s Crypto Task Force in creating a regulatory framework. 

Source: Paul Grewal

While it’s up to OGE to rescind the advisory, the SEC should take its own action, Grewal said. 

“For example, issuing waivers to crypto task force members and other staff actively working on task force matters would be consistent with measures already taken in commensurate advisory situations,” he said.

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Grewal added that a waiver would allow SEC staff on the Crypto Task Force responsible for creating crypto regulations to use crypto and “evaluate the underlying digital asset technology.”

Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who took office in 2021, was known for his hardline stance on crypto regulation. He resigned on Jan. 20 after spearheading an aggressive regulatory stance toward crypto, bringing upward of 100 regulatory actions against firms. 

Following Gensler’s exit, the SEC opted out of a swathe of lawsuits against crypto firms, including Coinbase, on Feb. 27 and, in a more recent April 24 walkback, flagged plans to drop its enforcement against blockchain firm Dragonchain. 

Magazine: Bitcoin $100K hopes on ice, SBF’s mysterious prison move: Hodler’s Digest, April 20 – 26