#China Tech

Chinese AI company DeepSeek has begun developing its own AI chip focused on inference, aiming to reduce dependence on NVIDIA and Huawei chips. The project started about a year ago and is still in early stages, with DeepSeek actively recruiting chip design engineers and contacting foundries and storage companies. This move could reshape the AI hardware landscape in China and reduce DeepSeek's vulnerability to US export controls, which currently restrict access to advanced NVIDIA chips. If successful, it may also intensify competition with Huawei's Ascend series and other domestic chipmakers. The chip is designed specifically for inference, the phase where trained models generate responses, rather than training. DeepSeek previously relied on NVIDIA H800 and Huawei Ascend chips, and founder Liang Wenfeng acknowledged in a rare 2024 interview that chip restrictions are a challenge for the company.