Chinese technology giant Huawei unveiled new chip technologies in a challenge to global leaders such as Nvidia, underscoring the narrowing gap between China and the U.S. in artificial intelligence.

Huawei's announcement on Thursday, made at its annual flagship conference in Shanghai, came only days before an expected meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington on Sept. 24.

China has rapidly pursued technological self-reliance, including in chips, as U.S.-led restrictions barred it from accessing some of the world’s most advanced AI chips and cutting-edge chipmaking machines.

At the event, Huawei unveiled the Atlas 960 SuperPoD computing cluster, a faster successor to the model it had launched only months earlier, with enhancements in AI training and “inference,” the process through which a trained AI makes predictions or decisions.

Huawei likewise intends to unveil its Ascend 970 and 980 chip series in 2028 and 2029 respectively, anticipating substantial gains in computing power.

“The timing — less than two weeks before President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington — underscores Beijing’s confidence and ambition in technology and innovation,” said George Chen, a partner and chair of digital practice at The Asia Group consultancy.

Huawei’s announcement coincided with Trump’s dismissal of AI leaders’ appeals to decelerate the technology’s development for safety reasons.

Trump maintained that the U.S. must preserve its supremacy over China, asserting, “whoever wins in AI, wins.”

"The pace of AI advancements is such that no one can be assured of retaining the lead indefinitely," Chen said.

Analysts contend that advanced technologies in China, such as the training of AI models, still frequently depend on U.S. chips, including those manufactured by Nvidia.

Nevertheless, Huawei has developed its own advanced chips and retains a lead over Chinese chip developers, as AI companies in China increasingly embrace the use of domestically produced chips.

The Atlas 960 SuperPoD computing cluster raised eyebrows among some technology analysts by arriving hot on the heels of the company's rollout of the Atlas 950 SuperPod late last year.

"The fact that Huawei accomplished this upgrade in merely a year, considerably faster than previously, will only exacerbate U.S. apprehension regarding the accelerating AI competition," Chen said.