DeepSeek Releases Open-Source Tools for Huawei Ascend Chips

DeepSeek has publicly released an open-source software toolkit designed for Huawei’s Ascend chips, making it available for free download. The announcement was made by the Chinese artificial intelligence startup via its WeChat account on Wednesday.

TileLang as CUDA Alternative

The toolkit includes TileLang, a Chinese software platform positioned as a substitute for Nvidia’s CUDA. CUDA currently serves as the global standard for developing artificial intelligence applications.

This move highlights deepening connections between two of China’s leading AI companies. It occurs as a limited group of firms works toward Beijing’s goal of replacing American software and electronic circuits with domestic alternatives.

Strategic Shift to Local Hardware

While DeepSeek develops open-weight AI models that compete with entities such as Anthropic and OpenAI, Huawei leads China’s efforts to produce the AI accelerators required for data centers.

DeepSeek has increasingly relied on local chips, despite the fact that global AI model training still depends heavily on semiconductors manufactured by Nvidia. According to Bloomberg last month, the startup plans to deploy at least 160,000 of Huawei’s most powerful accelerators in a massive data center under construction in Inner Mongolia.

Funding and Internal Development

DeepSeek is also completing a funding round that values the company at approximately 500 billion yuan, equivalent to $74 billion. This precedes a potential public offering of its shares, which may occur later this year.

The company rarely discusses details of its internal development processes, including the integration of AI chips.

Collaboration on Ascend Performance

In its WeChat post, DeepSeek stated that having an advanced programming language with a simple coding process is essential for building an effective AI ecosystem. The firm added that it worked with Huawei to improve software performance on Ascend 950 chips.

DeepSeek noted that Huawei provided "strong and unconditional support" during software research and development phases. The two companies indicated they will continue cooperating to develop further innovations.