The artificial intelligence processor Ascend 910, Aug. 23, 2019. (Photo provided by Huawei)
The Shenzhen-based company said the Ascend 910, which will be used for AI model training, performs much better than previously expected.
SHENZHEN, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tech giant Huawei on Friday launched the Ascend 910, which is described by the company as the world's most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) processor, and an all-scenario AI computing framework MindSpore.
The Shenzhen-based company said the Ascend 910, which will be used for AI model training, performs much better than previously expected.
Huawei announced the planned specs of the new AI processor, belonging to the Ascend-Max chipset series, in 2018 as part of the company's strategy to build a full-stack, all-scenario AI portfolio.
"After a year of ongoing development, test results now show that the Ascend 910 processor delivers on its performance goals with much lower power consumption than originally planned," the company said in a statement, adding that the chip has been used for AI model training.
The company also launched MindSpore, an AI computing framework that aims to support the development of AI applications in all scenarios. The framework is expected to go open source in the first quarter of 2020, the company said.
The combination of the chip and the framework is about two times faster at training AI models than other mainstream products such as TensorFlow, Huawei said.
"Moving forward, Huawei will continue investing in AI processors to deliver more abundant, affordable, and adaptable computing power that meets the needs of a broad range of scenarios," the company said in a press release.
