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US Warns Huawei Can Produce No More Than 200,000 AI Chips in 2025, But China Is Catching Up

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Huawei Technologies will likely produce no more than 200,000 advanced artificial intelligence chips in 2025, according to Jeffrey Kessler, Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security at the U.S. Commerce Department. While this figure falls short of meeting China’s growing demand, Kessler cautioned that China is rapidly narrowing the technological gap with the United States.

Speaking before the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs South and Central Asia subcommittee on Thursday, Kessler emphasized that the production limitations do not mean the U.S. can become complacent. “China is investing huge amounts to increase its AI chip production, as well as the capabilities of the chips that it produces. So, it’s critical for us not to have a false sense of security,” he warned.

Since 2019, Washington has implemented a series of export controls restricting Huawei and other Chinese firms’ access to high-end U.S. chips and manufacturing equipment. These curbs aim to slow China’s progress in critical technologies and prevent potential military applications. Despite these hurdles, Huawei plans to supply its domestically produced Ascend 910C AI chips to Chinese customers as an alternative to Nvidia’s more advanced products.

White House AI Czar David Sacks recently stated that China is only 3-6 months behind the U.S. in AI model capabilities. However, he clarified that Chinese AI chip hardware remains about one to two years behind leading U.S. competitors such as Nvidia. Huawei’s CEO Ren Zhengfei also acknowledged the gap, noting that the company’s chips trail behind U.S. products by a generation, though Huawei continues to invest more than $25 billion annually to advance performance.

While Huawei is expanding its AI chip output, U.S. export controls have hampered Nvidia’s ability to maintain its market dominance in China. Recent trade negotiations between the U.S. and China in London resulted in a tentative truce, yet tensions persist, especially after the Trump administration imposed new export controls on semiconductor design software, jet engines for Chinese aircraft, and other critical technologies.

During the congressional hearing, Democratic Representative Greg Meeks raised concerns about the Trump administration’s approach, suggesting it has blurred the lines between export control policy and broader trade issues. Kessler reassured lawmakers that export controls remain robust and effective, while also stressing that the Commerce Department will continue to actively monitor and adjust regulations as the technology landscape evolves.

At present, there are no immediate plans for further restrictions on U.S. semiconductor sales to China, though officials remain vigilant about developments in China’s domestic semiconductor sector.

France’s Mistral Launches Europe’s First AI Reasoning Model to Challenge US and China

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French AI startup Mistral has unveiled Europe’s first AI reasoning model, aiming to rival leading American and Chinese competitors by leveraging logical thinking for complex problem-solving. The launch marks a significant step in Europe’s bid to carve out a homegrown presence in the competitive AI landscape.

Mistral’s reasoning models utilize “chain-of-thought” techniques, enabling the AI to generate intermediate reasoning steps when tackling difficult questions. This approach could help overcome current limitations faced by the industry’s traditional strategy of simply scaling up model size with more data and computing power.

Backed by venture capital at a $6.2 billion valuation, Mistral differentiates itself by emphasizing its European roots and commitment to open source, contrasting with proprietary models from companies like OpenAI and Google. French President Emmanuel Macron has publicly supported the startup, highlighting its strategic importance.

Mistral’s product lineup includes an open-source Magistral Small model available for free download on Hugging Face, and a more advanced Magistral Medium tailored for business clients. The models support reasoning in multiple languages including English, French, Spanish, Arabic, and simplified Chinese.

While American AI giants have largely kept their most advanced reasoning models proprietary, Chinese firms like DeepSeek and Alibaba have adopted open-source approaches to showcase their technology. Meta has integrated reasoning capabilities into its latest models but has yet to release a standalone reasoning model.

Industry observers see Mistral’s launch as Europe’s best chance to catch up in the AI arms race, particularly as the field shifts focus from brute-force scaling to more sophisticated reasoning abilities.

Meta’s Zuckerberg Forms New AGI-Focused AI Team Amid Scale AI Investment

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Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is assembling a new artificial intelligence team with a mission to pursue artificial general intelligence (AGI) — AI systems capable of matching or exceeding human-level intelligence — according to a report by Bloomberg News on Tuesday. The move signals Meta’s ambition to compete at the highest level of AI development, alongside rivals like OpenAI.

Zuckerberg is reportedly leading the recruitment of about 50 AI experts to form the AGI group, including searching for a new head of AI research. The effort comes amid Meta’s planned investment of over $10 billion in Scale AI, with Scale AI’s founder Alexandr Wang expected to join Meta’s AGI team once the deal is finalized, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources.

Meta has not yet publicly confirmed the formation of this team. Reuters noted that Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The creation of the AGI team follows internal dissatisfaction with the performance and reception of Meta’s most recent large language model, Llama 4, according to Bloomberg. Compounding these challenges, the Wall Street Journal previously reported that Meta delayed the release of its flagship “Behemoth” AI model last month due to concerns about its readiness and capabilities.

While Meta continues to build out its Llama series of models and expand AI integration across its platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, the pivot toward AGI suggests Zuckerberg is positioning Meta to remain competitive as global tech giants race to develop the next generation of AI technology.

Competitors such as OpenAI are also actively seeking additional investment to fuel their AGI research. The AGI race has attracted massive financial commitments, talent acquisitions, and escalating debates about both the promise and risks of creating human-level AI.