Huawei unveils latest tech to boost AI power, curb China’s Nvidia reliance - South China Morning Post

Howard Liuin ShanghaiandIris Dengin ShanghaiPublished: 10:26am, 17 Sep 2026Updated: 12:35pm, 17 Sep 2026Huawei Technologies on Thursday unveiled its latest Atlas 960 SuperPoD computing cluster and an upgraded version of its UnifiedBus interconnect technology, key components of the Chinese tech giant’s strategy to build advanced artificial intelligence systems despite US semiconductor-related restrictions.

At the Huawei Connect 2026 conference in Shanghai, the Shenzhen-based firm introduced near-packaged optics (NPOs) – a placement structure enabling higher speeds and lower energy use – to the company’s SuperPoD architecture for the first time.

Huawei said the combination of its UnifiedBus interconnect technology and Hi-ONE optical system would allow a SuperPoD to connect as many as 4,000 processors, extending high-speed optical connections deeper into the computing system.

The Atlas 960 SuperPoD, powered by Ascend 960 chips, promises a 2.3-fold and 2.5-fold improvement in training and inference for 10-trillion-parameter models, compared to its predecessor Atlas 950 SuperPoD.