Huawei is making a huge move to leapfrog chipmaking rivals by open-sourcing its most powerful artificial intelligence models. The Chinese tech giant has released two of its Pangu series large language models, including a 72-billion-parameter hybrid expert system, to accelerate global adoption of its Ascend AI chips.
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It’s important to note that China cannot import Nvidia’s (NVDA) top-performing processors due to U.S. restrictions. So Huawei is taking the fight to the open-source battlefield, using free access to its models as bait for developers and enterprises to choose Ascend over Nvidia.
Huawei’s Model Strategy Mirrors Google
Industry analysts say Huawei’s chip-to-model approach mirrors what Google (GOOGL) is doing with its Gemma models and in-house Tensor chips. By creating its own ecosystem of hardware and open models, Huawei hopes to dominate AI infrastructure in a landscape increasingly shaped by sovereign control and tech bifurcation.
The open-sourced models will support a range of applications, from enterprise AI to autonomous vehicles. Huawei also plans to scale its AI data center presence into new countries, positioning Ascend as a global alternative in a world where U.S.-based chips are politically and commercially restricted.
Nvidia Still Leads, but Huawei Is Gaining Ground
Despite these moves, Nvidia remains the clear leader in AI compute power. Its chips are still the default across most Western enterprises and AI labs. But with China pouring resources into alternatives, and companies like Huawei pushing open-source innovation, Nvidia faces a two-front battle.
Huawei is not alone. Alibaba (BABA), Baidu (BIDU), and others are also building custom chips, creating a competitive pressure cooker that could threaten Nvidia’s dominance, especially in non-U.S. markets.
The Key Takeaway for Investors
For investors, the takeaway is this. Nvidia is still far ahead, but the moat is getting shallower. Huawei’s aggressive open-source play could siphon future market share in Asia and emerging markets. If adoption of Ascend accelerates, Nvidia may face real disruption outside of its U.S. stronghold.
Watch for signs of major governments or global corporations integrating Huawei models into commercial pipelines. That would mark a tipping point in what is fast becoming the most important race in tech.
Is NVDA Stock a Good Buy?
TipRanks data reveals that Nvidia is still firmly backed by Wall Street analysts, even as global competition heats up. Based on 40 ratings in the past three months, the consensus is a “Strong Buy,” with 35 analysts recommending the stock. The average 12-month NVDA price target is $175.28, suggesting a potential upside of 13.4% from the current price of $154.54.
