DeepSeek has open-sourced a set of programming tools for Huawei’s Ascend AI chips. They include a version of TileLang, a programming language DeepSeek offers as a simpler alternative to Nvidia’s CUDA. The Chinese AI lab announced the release on Wednesday in a post on its WeChat account.
The release includes compute and communication libraries for the Ascend platform, Che Pan and Farah Master reported for Reuters. DeepSeek said Huawei gave full support during development. The two companies also worked together on a “supernode” system built from 128 Ascend 950 chips.
“To build a new generation of independent, self-controlled GPU software ecosystems, the first priority is establishing a high-level language that is universal, easy to program, and still capable of reaching the hardware’s full performance potential,” DeepSeek said, according to Reuters.
Six modules, free to download
DeepSeek released six software modules for Huawei’s chips, Coco Feng reported for the South China Morning Post. They mirror the open-source tools it had already published for Nvidia chips.
DeepSeek first tested TileLang on older Nvidia chips, Steve Lohr reported for The New York Times. It now uses the language as its “core tool” for work on artificial general intelligence. Nvidia’s CUDA platform has an estimated four million developers, according to the Times.
The tools are free to download, Luz Ding reported for Bloomberg. The two companies plan to work together on more projects. It plans to deploy at least 160,000 Huawei accelerators in a data centre in Inner Mongolia, according to Bloomberg. It is also raising funds at a valuation close to 500bn yuan ($74bn).
Huawei’s chip push
The announcement came two weeks after Huawei unveiled its next-generation Ascend chips. Huawei cannot meet demand for its AI chips, the Times reported. The company plans to restrict sales outside China.
“We cannot accept a destiny where we cannot control our fate,” Eric Xu, Huawei’s rotating chairman, said, according to the Times.
US export controls limit Chinese companies’ access to Nvidia’s most advanced chips. Earlier this month, Xu said China must build AI faster to see its dangers. Last week, DeepSeek’s annualised revenue run rate reached $1bn, according to a report.