Ex-Nvidia billionaire unveils new AI chips after China IPO debut

The new technology, slated for mass production from 2026, will enable clusters connecting more than 100,000 chips for AI training at data centers, according to Zhang.

Moore Threads Technology Co. introduced a new generation of chips aimed at reducing artificial-intelligence developers’ dependence on Nvidia Corp.’s hardware, just weeks after pulling off one of the most successful Chinese IPOs in years.

“These products will significantly enhance world-class computing speed and capabilities that all developers aspire to,” Moore Threads Chief Executive Officer Zhang Jianzhong, a former Nvidia executive, said at a company event in Beijing on Saturday. “We hope they can meet the needs of more developers in China so that you no longer need to wait for advanced foreign products.”

Chinese chipmakers are in the spotlight as Chinese authorities push forward with efforts to develop a world-class semiconductor sector. Investors are betting that national champions will emerge to challenge Nvidia, whose most advanced chips are blocked by the US from being sold to China. Moore Threads’ architecture, named Huagang, will elevate computational density by 50% and improve energy efficiency by ten times, according to Zhang.

Zhang founded his own company in 2020 after spending 14 years at Nvidia. Chips based on the new architecture will be named Huashan and be positioned to compete with Nvidia’s Hopper and Blackwell products, he added.

Moore Threads’ announcement comes the same month it quintupled on its debut in Shanghai. Days later, domestic rival MetaX Integrated Circuits Co. also rose several-fold on its first day.

The new technology, slated for mass production from 2026, will enable clusters connecting more than 100,000 chips for AI training at data centers, according to Zhang.

Moore Threads started out earning revenue from gaming and visual rendering chips before pivoting to the accelerators vital to developing and running AI software.

The chipmaker also announced an update to its proprietary computing platform MUSA at the event, positioning it as an equivalent to Nvidia’s CUDA. Moore Threads, which was blacklisted by the U.S. in 2023, unveiled servers capable of linking tens of thousands of AI chips.

Moore Threads also introduced a new Lushan series of GPUs, designed for advanced graphics rendering. The company also launched the Changjiang SoC chip, which integrates key components including CPUs and GPUs.