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Illustration of the China and U.S. flag on a central processing unit.

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U.S. sanctions over the years on China’s semiconductor industry has forced Beijing to ramp up efforts to boost its domestic chip sector.

The boom of artificial intelligence and foundational models has only spurred on China’s goal of playing a leading role in the chip industry.

So far, it is American firm Nvidia with its graphics processing units, or GPUs, that has garnered the headlines, as it designs the key piece of hardware required to train up huge AI models, such as the likes seen from OpenAI that underpins ChatGPT.

While Nvidia can ship certain chips to China, Washington has shown its willingness to cut its tech rival off from the most cutting-edge semiconductors and tools needed to make them. This has renewed focus on China’s homegrown efforts to rival Nvidia and create semiconductors that can underpin the world’s second-largest economy’s own AI industry.

CNBC spoke to two analysts who identified some of the leading Chinese competitors to Nvidia.

Huawei

Huawei is one of China’s tech champions with a business that spans telecommunications infrastructure to consumer electronics and cloud computing. Its chip design unit is called HiSilicon.

The Shenzhen-headquartered company designs the Ascend series of data center processors. Huawei then sells these chips as a part of servers that go into data centers to train AI models. Its AI servers are under the brand name Atlas.

The firm’s current generation of chip is called the Ascend 910B, and the company is gearing up to launch the Ascend 910C, which could be on par with Nvidia’s H100 product, according to a Wall Street Journal report in August.

In its annual report earlier this year, Nvidia explicitly identified Huawei, among other companies, as a competitor in areas such as chips, software for AI and networking products.

“It is not just about the hardware, but about the overall ecosystem, tools for developers, and the ability to continue to evolve this ecosystem going forward as the technology advances. Here, Huawei holds a lot of advantages, and is attempting to build a software ecosystem around its Ascend series of datacenter processors,” Paul Triolo, an associate partner at consulting firm Albright Stonebridge, told CNBC.

Alibaba and Baidu

Alibaba and Baidu both buy Nvidia chips but they are also designing their own semiconductors for AI processes.

Baidu, one of China’s biggest internet companies, designs its own chips for the use in servers and autonomous cars under the brand name Kunlun.

Alibaba’s semiconductor design unit called T-Head, has developed an AI inference chip called the Hanguang 800. Inference is the process that follows the training of AI models, as it refers to the actual application of AI in the real world, such as a chatbot responding to user queries.

“Alibaba’s AI inference chip has already been deployed to accelerate its recommendation system on its e-commerce platform. Baidu has integrated its Kunlun chip into its data centers and autonomous driving sector,” Wei Sun, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC.

Biren Technology

Like Nvidia, Biren Technology designs a general purpose GPU and has a software development platform to build applications on top of the hardware.

These chips form part of Biren’s Bili series of products designed to be used in data centers for AI training.

Last year Biren was added to a U.S. blacklist known as the Entity List, which restricts its access to certain American technology.

Cambricon Technologies

Moore Threads

Moore Threads, founded in 2020, is developing GPUs designed to train large AI models.

MTT KUAE is the company’s data center product containing its GPUs. The company’s mission is to become a “global GPU leader,” according to a statement on its website.

It also has big brand names backing it. TikTok-owner ByteDance is an investor alongside big venture capital firms including Sequoia and GGV Capital.

Moore Threads is also on the U.S. Entity List.

Enflame Technology

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From the New Testament to Nixon: Takeaways from Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s shareholder letter

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From the New Testament to Nixon: Takeaways from Palantir CEO Alex Karp's shareholder letter

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, speaks on a panel titled Power, Purpose, and the New American Century at the Hill and Valley Forum at the U.S. Capitol on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images

Palantir CEO Alex Karp offered up another batch of colorful commentary to investors alongside the data analytics company’s first-quarter earnings.

In a letter to shareholders, Karp quoted his own book and some significant historical figures — including St. Augustine and President Richard Nixon — and the New Testament as he touted the company’s artificial intelligence-fueled growth and commitment toward equipping and enhancing U.S. defense interests.

“Our financial performance, that crude yardstick by which the market attempts to measure worth in this world, continues to exceed many of our greatest expectations,” he wrote.

The eccentric technology billionaire has become widely known over the years for his energetic interviews and flowing shareholder letters that often incorporate philosophy, ethics and unconventional language.

His letters often read like an essay or dissertation, broken down into parts.

Tech and military

“We, the heretics, this motley band of characters, were cast out and nearly discarded by Silicon Valley. And yet there are signs that some within the Valley have now turned a corner and begun following our lead. We note only that our commitment to building software for the U.S. military, to those whom we have asked to step into harm’s way, remains steadfast, when such a commitment is fashionable and convenient, and when it is not.”

St. Augustine

Karp quoted philosopher and theologian St. Augustine in his case for defending the U.S.

“All men are to be loved equally,” he wrote. “But since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special regard to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstance, are brought into closer connection with you.”

Weltanschauung

In highlighting the company’s culture, Karp likened the environment to a Weltanschauung “nation that is bound together by a short but evolving history and patterns of discourse and shared beliefs” and quoted the New Testament.

“There is no question that both cultures and companies, including the one we have built, must over a long period of time be judged ‘by their fruits.’ Matt. 7:16,”

‘Cultural elites’

Karp cited French author Michel Houellebecq in a section about the “entrenched and resilient” cultural aristocracy of the learned class.

“Nobility had nothing to explain their right to stay in power, apart from their birth. … Contemporary elites claim intellectual and moral superiority.”

President Nixon

Karp concluded his letter with a call to action for rooting out the “cynics and the skeptics,” quoting an excerpt from President Nixon’s 1974 resignation speech.

“Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don’t win, unless you hate them. And then, you destroy yourself.”

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Palantir lifts full-year guidance as CEO Karp cites ‘tectonic shift’ in AI adoption

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Palantir lifts full-year guidance as CEO Karp cites 'tectonic shift' in AI adoption

Alex Karp, chief executive officer of Palantir Technologies Inc., speaks during the AIPCon conference in Palo Alto, California, US, on March 13, 2025.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Palantir boosted its revenue guidance Monday as the artificial intelligence software company saw commercial and government revenue boom.

Shares fell about 5% after the bell.

Here’s how the company did compared with LSEG consensus estimates:

  • Earnings per share: 13 cents adjusted vs. 13 cents expected
  • Revenue: $884 million vs. $863 million expected

“We are delivering the operating system for the modern enterprise in the era of AI,” CEO Alex Karp wrote in an earnings release Monday, adding that the company is in the “middle of a tectonic shift in the adoption” of its software.

The defense technology company said that its commercial revenues grew 71% from a year ago to $255 million, while its government segment sales jumped 45% to $373 million. The company is forecasting that U.S. commercial revenues will top $1.178 billion this year.

Karp attributed Palantir’s government sector growth to greater U.S. defense sector adoption of its tools. He said that demand for large language models and the software supporting it has “turned into a stampede.”

Palantir’s revenues grew 39% from $634.3 million in the year-ago period. Net income rose to about $214 million, or 8 cents per share, from roughly $105.5 million, or 4 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. U.S revenues jumped 55% to $628 million, Palantir said.

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The company, which provides AI software and technology solutions for governments and corporations, also hiked its full-year revenue outlook to between $3.89 billion and $3.90 billion. During its last earnings report, Palantir projected that full-year revenues would range between $3.74 billion and $3.76 billion. The company expects revenues to range between $934 million and $938 million in the current quarter.

“We believe our results are indicative of a revolution sweeping across our business and industry,” Karp wrote in a letter to shareholders.

Palantir shares have defied 2025’s broad downtrend in technology stocks. The stock is up 64% this year, benefitting from its key defense contracts and President Donald Trump’s effort to cut federal spending with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. Palantir is also the best performer in the S&P 500.

The company also boosted its adjusted free cash flow outlook for the year to between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion. Adjusted income for operations is expected to range between $1.711 billion and $1.723 billion.

Palantir said it closed 139 deals totaling at least $1 million during the period, 51 of which topped at least $5 million. Palantir said 31 deals exceeded $10 million.

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Waymo plans to double robotaxi production at Arizona plant by end of 2026

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Waymo plans to double robotaxi production at Arizona plant by end of 2026

A Waymo self-driving vehicle seen in Phoenix, Arizona, on Feb. 27, 2025.

Leslie Josephs | CNBC

Alphabet-owned Waymo and the auto manufacturing giant Magna International plan to double robotaxi production at their new plant in Mesa, Arizona, by the end of 2026, the companies announced Monday.

The “Waymo Driver Integration Plant,” a 239,000 square foot facility outside of Phoenix, will assemble more than 2,000 Jaguar I-PACE robotaxis, the Alphabet company said in a statement. Waymo will add those self-driving vehicles to its existing fleet that already includes around 1,500 robotaxis.

The plant will be “capable of building tens of thousands of fully autonomous Waymo vehicles per year,” when it is fully built out, Waymo said. The company also said it plans to build its more advanced Geely Zeekr RT robotaxis that feature its “6th-generation Waymo Driver” technology later this year at the plant.

Waymo and Magna opened the Mesa plant in October, Forbes reported Monday.

The Alphabet-owned company started its commercial robotaxi service in Phoenix in 2020 and now calls the area its domestic manufacturing home.

Already, Waymo is conducting 250,000 paid, driverless rides per week across its service areas in Austin, the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles and Phoenix, and the company is planning to begin serving the Atlanta; Miami; and Washington, D.C., markets in 2026.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai last month said Waymo has not strictly defined its long-term business model yet, and there is “future optionality around personal ownership” of vehicles equipped with Waymo’s self-driving technology. A week later, Waymo and Toyota announced a preliminary partnership to potentially bring the self-driving tech to personally owned vehicles.

A would-be Waymo competitor, Tesla has said it plans to launch a robotaxi service in Austin in June using the company’s Model Y SUVs and its Unsupervised Full Self-Driving technology.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has criticized Waymo’s approach to driverless tech, saying the cars by his competitor cost “way more money” than his company’s.

Waymo systems employ more sophisticated and expensive sensors than Tesla vehicles do. Waymo vehicles rely on radar and lidar sensors alongside cameras and sonar to get around. Tesla’s systems mostly rely on cameras.

However, Waymo has beat Tesla to the market with its robotaxis, and now stands to more than double its U.S. fleet by the end of 2026. Tesla does not yet offer vehicles that are safe to use without a human at the wheel ready to steer or brake at any time.

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Waymo hits more than 250k paid weekly rides

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