Alibaba’s T-Head unit unveils details of AI chip designed to rival Nvidia’s GPUs

Alibaba Group Holding’s semiconductor design arm, T-Head, on Thursday unveiled details of its advanced artificial intelligence chip with capabilities said to be on par with Nvidia’s H20, days after the unit was reportedly being prepared for a potential spin-off and public listing.

Developed by T-Head to handle the massive data throughput required for generative AI systems, the Zhenwu 810E supports 96 gigabytes of High Bandwidth Memory 2 Enhanced – a 3D-stacked synchronous dynamic random-access memory standard designed for AI, machine learning and high-performance computing.

A single card with the T-Head PPU handles a bandwidth of 700 gigabytes per second, which made it on par with Nvidia’s H20 – a graphics processing unit (GPU) tailored by Nvidia specifically for China to comply with US export restrictions.

China last year summoned Nvidia over alleged “back door safety risks” in the H20, which signalled a de facto ban on its sales to local firms.

T-Head’s launch of the Zhenwu 810E marked the latest initiative by China’s Big Tech firms, including Huawei Technologies and Baidu, to develop a domestic alternative to Nvidia’s GPUs and bolster the country’s technology self-reliance efforts.

Before Washington and Beijing stepped up their regulatory scrutiny of the firm last year, Nvidia said it had 95 per cent of the advanced chip market in China.