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| Huawei Deputy Chairman Ken Hu gives a keynote speech on the opening day of Huawei Connect 2019 at Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Huawei |
By Jun Ji-hye
SHANGHAI ― Huawei has released the world's "fastest" artificial intelligence (AI) training platform that helps make AI more readily available for different fields of scientific research and business innovation, the company said Wednesday.
At Huawei Connect 2019 held in Shanghai, Huawei Deputy Chairman Ken Hu called the new platform, dubbed Atlas 900, "the world's fastest AI training cluster."
"Atlas 900 is a powerhouse of AI computing," Hu said during his keynote address, noting that the new platform combines the power of thousands of Ascend processors.
Ascend processors for AI make up one of Huawei's lineup of processors, along with Kunpeng for general purpose computing, Kirin for smart devices and Honghu for smart screens.
Hu said it takes only 59.8 seconds for Atlas 900 to train ResNet-50, the industry standard for measuring AI training performance.
"This is about 10 seconds faster than the previous world record," Hu said. "Atlas 900 will bring new possibilities to different fields of scientific research and business innovation ― anything from astronomy to oil exploration."
Hu also announced his strategy for the computing market, calling it a massive blue ocean market that will be worth more than $2 trillion by the end of 2023.
"We'll keep investing with a strategy that focuses on four key areas. We will push the boundaries of architecture, invest in processors for all scenarios, keep clear business boundaries and build an open ecosystem," Hu said.
He noted the company will open up hardware like AI servers, accelerator cards and modules for its partners, giving them the components they need to integrate AI computing into their own products and systems.
He added the firm's software will be open source as well.
"That includes software like server operating systems, databases and AI development frameworks. This will help our partners develop better commercial software more easily," he said.
Commenting on the Huawei Developer Program, which began in 2015, Hu said the company will invest another $1.5 billion to expand the program to 5 million developers and better enable its partners around the world to develop the next-generation intelligent applications and systems.
The company's emphasis on open ecosystem was construed as it making a conciliatory gesture to the U.S. government that had decided to blacklist the Chinese firm amid the prolonged trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Meanwhile, Huawei said its business for the fifth-generation (5G) networks has been progressing nicely despite controversy over the security of its products.
During a press conference held later in the day, Hu said the company has secured a "large" number of contracts related to 5G, though it would be premature to talk about operating profits generating from 5G.
He said specific numbers regarding 5G sales are expected to come out next year, adding that security concerns surrounding the firm's products were "just suspicions and doubts."
