China's top three AI chip companies: HiSilicon, Cambrian, and Horizon Robotics

Under the 5G architecture, AI has become an important driving force for the next generation of technological revolution and industrial transformation. AI will give rise to new technologies, products, industries, and business operation models, thereby triggering a major transformation of the economic structure and even improving overall economic productivity.

However, at present, the AI ​​industry is still in its infancy and accounts for a low proportion of the overall IC industry. Even by 2025, the output value of AI will only account for about 10% of the overall IC industry. However, in terms of growth potential, the AI ​​industry is definitely a rising star in the future development of the semiconductor industry.

Source: Statista, Tractica, Frost & Sullivan, table compiled by Juheng.com

The development of the AI ​​industry has three basic elements, namely algorithms, data and computing power, among which the key to computing power lies in chips.

In these three aspects, Tsinghua University pointed out that compared with the United States, China is lagging behind in algorithms. Currently, no Chinese people have been seen in all important algorithms. At the same time, in chip development, China is also lagging behind the United States overall, but in chips in some special application fields, China can still keep up with the United States.

Image: Tractica

However, China has an advantage in data, mainly because China has a large population and a sufficient database, and it is more convenient for Chinese AI companies to use data for training. Therefore, in this field, China is not inferior to the United States.

China's three most popular AI semiconductor manufacturers, Huawei HiSilicon, Cambrian, and Horizon Robotics, each have their own specialized fields.

Huawei HiSilicon

Huawei HiSilicon has a downstream Huawei brand as its outlet, and its own financial resources are relatively stronger than other companies, so it can support the funds needed to develop advanced processes below 10 nanometers.

In addition, its Kirin 980 chip (7nm) has made Huawei's Mate 20 mobile phone a hot seller, increasing Huawei's overall smartphone market share in China from 20% in 2017 to 27% in 2018.

Huawei HiSilicon is not only a mobile phone chip, but also a server cloud AI chip. As Huawei's server equipment continues to penetrate the world, Huawei HiSilicon will pose a threat to international giants such as Intel, Google, and Xilinx.

Cambrian

Cambricon specializes in the field of deep learning processor IP cores, and its product applications cover a variety of cloud reasoning technologies such as machine vision, speech, natural language processing and data collection.

In addition, Cambrian is also present in the Kirin 980 chip launched by Huawei HiSilicon. The neural processor (NPU) it provides can enable the lens to see wider and faster, while the microphone can hear more clearly and has the function of inferring user behavior intentions.

Cambrian's advanced technology also received financial support from the Chinese government. Therefore, with the rich father as its backer, Cambrian's future development has attracted special attention from the industry.

horizon

Horizon Robotics mainly focuses on autonomous driving solutions. The product production process is to design algorithm models based on application scenario requirements, fully verify them using big data, and then develop a chip architecture to launch products after the model is mature. Therefore, the BPU chip launched by Horizon Robotics is different from general-purpose processors.

In addition, Horizon Robotics also has strong support from rich people. One of the company's two founders is from Baidu and the other is from Huawei. At the same time, Horizon Robotics has obtained nearly US$1 billion in Series B financing last year, which continues to increase its market value.

Money talks

Overall, the most important thing for the smooth development of the AI ​​industry is financial support. Given the Chinese government's strong support for the AI ​​industry, it is not difficult for Chinese companies with AI development potential to obtain funds. Moreover, the listing regulations of the Science and Technology Innovation Board have opened the door to companies interested in developing AI, which can further stimulate the growth of the AI ​​field in China.

At the same time, Huawei said that through the development of AI, China will have the opportunity to catch up with Europe and the United States in the field of technology, and even surpass them.

In addition, although AI is still in its early stages of development, if these rising stars cooperate with big data companies such as Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba and utilize huge databases, it will help improve the accuracy and "humanity" of the technology.