DeepSeek has introduced six software components for Huawei's Ascend AI chips, establishing an independent ecosystem that rivals Nvidia's offerings.
DeepSeek has released the source code for six software components tailored for Huawei's Ascend AI chips, creating a standalone software ecosystem that mirrors Nvidia's offerings, as reported by SCMP.
New Software Tools for Huawei's Ascend
The new tools introduced include TileLang, DeepGEMM, DeepEP, TileKernels, FlashMLA, and DeepSelect. These components are designed to be compatible with technologies previously developed for Nvidia hardware.
Among these, TileLang stands out as it enables the creation of high-performance computing kernels essential for AI model operations. Bloomberg has dubbed it "China's answer to Nvidia CUDA," highlighting its significance in the market.
TileLang now officially supports Huawei's Ascend 950 accelerators and boasts features like native code generation and automatic scheduling.
DeepSeek stated, "As an open-source project, the TileLang Ascend version aims to serve as a model for building a widely accessible software ecosystem for a larger array of AI chips."
Enhancing AI Model Performance
The other components focus on key functionalities necessary for training and executing AI models. DeepGEMM Ascend specializes in matrix computations, supporting various data formats like BF16, FP8, and FP4, and is optimized for the Ascend architecture.
DeepEP Ascend facilitates efficient data exchange among multiple chips, crucial for models employing the Mixture of Experts architecture. Additional tools enhance memory operations, process extensive contexts, and implement sparse attention techniques.
Collaborative Development with Huawei
DeepSeek and Huawei are also collaborating on a "supernode" solution that integrates 128 Ascend 950 chips, optimizing computing and data transfer capabilities. Huawei has played a key role in supporting DeepSeek’s software development, and both companies plan to expand their partnership to further enhance the Ascend platform.
Notably, Huawei is set to launch its Ascend 960DT chips in the first quarter of 2027, ahead of schedule, indicating a strong commitment to advancing its AI technology.
