China's chipmakers want to triple the production of AI chips in 2026 to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp., according to a Financial Times report.
Huawei Corp. aims to begin production at a plant dedicated to making AI chips by end of 2025, with two more facilities set to launch in 2026, FT said, citing people familiar with the matter. The plants are designed to specifically support Huawei, but their ownership remains unclear.
Huawei told FT that it did not have plans for its own plants.
The combined output could surpass the current production capacity of China's top chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, FT said.
SMIC plans to next year double manufacturing capacity for 7 nm chips, for which Huawei is its largest customer, the report said.
AI Chip Wars
Beijing is accelerating work on domestic AI chips, with companies developing processors that rival the performance of Nvidia's China-special H20, about which the government has expressed security concerns.
According to a Reuters report in November, Huawei planned to start mass-producing its most advanced AI chip in the first quarter of 2025 despite grappling with the impact of US restrictions.