Huawei pitches Egypt 1,408 Ascend chips as Washington courts Nvidia, AMD, and Microsoft
Cairo put one government AI tender on the table.
Bloomberg‘s Mackenzie Hawkins reports Huawei pitched Egypt on AI data centers for military, surveillance, and other public-sector use. The Edge Malaysia reprinted the account. Officials in Washington are working to assemble a counteroffer.
Documents reviewed by Bloomberg, plus people familiar with the matter, show a proposal to export 1,408 top-end Ascend 950-series chips for a training cloud, plus 600 more of either those chips or the earlier 910B for two inference clusters. The documents show a 12-month build.
If it succeeds, it would be the first known export of Huawei Ascend accelerators after more than a year of attempts. Huawei declined to comment. Egypt’s foreign ministry did not respond.
When the Trump administration learned of the pitch, the State Department reached out to Nvidia, AMD, and Microsoft about a US consortium. Microsoft declined to comment. Nvidia and AMD did not respond.
A State Department spokesperson: Egypt is one of dozens of countries they are speaking with about US technology leadership on AI. The US “stands ready to partner with countries on AI development and deployment in ways that respect sovereignty and expand capabilities.”
The proposal involves a partnership with iFlytek. Both companies have been US-blacklisted since 2019.
Offerings include vehicle and individual recognition on a national population database, and “situation awareness” packaged as “one screen panoramic view of the city.” A slide in a 102-page presentation showed China’s Ministry of Public Security insignia on “basic video applications.” iFlytek did not comment.
AI chip shipments to Egypt have required Washington’s permission since 2023.
Under typical parameters, that quantity of Huawei 950DT accelerators would provide roughly the same capability as a few hundred of the top commercially available Nvidia chips.
Last year Huawei wooed the Gulf and Southeast Asia with second-best chips because 910C production was too low. Egypt is being offered the top processors, more powerful than the 910C.
Malaysia last year announced a national AI system on Huawei chips at similar scale, then distanced itself amid White House concerns.
Egypt’s second national AI strategy wants technology to contribute 7.7% of GDP by 2030. A Trump-team warning exists that using certain Huawei accelerators without Washington approval could mean a legal penalty. It is unclear whether that warning has been invoked with Cairo.
Nothing is awarded. The 950s have not shipped.