Alibaba, ByteDance Reportedly Plan Large-Scale Purchases of Huawei’s New 950PR AI Chip

Huawei is continuing to expand its Ascend AI chip business. The 950PR’s improved compatibility with Nvidia’s CUDA ecosystem could lower the barriers for Chinese companies seeking to migrate models and software. Adoption by Alibaba and ByteDance would mark an important advance in Huawei’s challenge to Nvidia’s position in China’s AI accelerator market.

DeepSeek-V4’s release has fueled computing demand, prompting market reports that Alibaba and ByteDance plan to purchase Huawei’s 950PR in large volumes. Order volumes and values have not been disclosed. Mass production of the 950PR was expected to begin in April 2026. The procurement reports remain market speculation, and Huawei and the companies involved have yet to formally announce contract details.