China trains trillion-parameter AI model on domestic chips, challenging Nvidia's training monopoly
By
Poe Zhao
Summary
The article examines whether China can train frontier AI models without Nvidia chips, using Meituan's LongCat-2.0 as key evidence. The trillion-parameter model was pre-trained from scratch on a 50,000-chip cluster powered entirely by domestic processors (Huawei Ascend). This challenges the long-held assumption that Chinese chips could only handle inference, not training. The piece maps the capability ladder and efficiency gap between Chinese domestic chips and Nvidia's offerings, analyzing implications for investors and policymakers.
Source
Twitter / XChina trains trillion-parameter AI model on domestic chips, challenging Nvidia's training monopolyhellochinatech.comKey quotes
· 3 pulledFor 2 years, the working assumption among investors and policymakers has been clear: Chinese AI chips could handle inference... Training, the far more demanding process of building one, still required Nvidia.
In late June, Meituan, China's largest on-demand services platform, released LongCat-2.0.
The company says the trillion-parameter model was pre-trained from scratch on a 50,000-chip cluster powered entirely by domestically produced processors.
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