iFlytek on Monday boasted that its Xinghuo X1 reasoning model had matched OpenAI o1 and DeepSeek R1 in overall performance. — SCMP
Chinese voice-recognition firm iFlytek said that training its large language models (LLM) entirely with Huawei Technologies’ computing solutions has increased its growth potential amid the intensifying US-China tech war, after the Trump administration moved to restrict the export of Nvidia’s H20 artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China.
iFlytek on Monday boasted that its Xinghuo X1 reasoning model, a “self-sufficient, controllable” LLM trained with home-grown computing power, had matched OpenAI o1 and DeepSeek R1 in overall performance following an upgrade, according to a company blog post published on WeChat.
iFlytek and Huawei had worked together in the training of Xinghuo X1 to tackle the weakness of domestic chips in interconnect bandwidth, the company said in January when announcing the reasoning model.
At the end of last year, the efficiency of Huawei’s Ascend 910B AI chip was only 20% that of Nvidia’s solution for the training of reasoning models, but iFlytek and Huawei have jointly increased that to nearly 80% this year, iFlytek founder and chairman Liu Qingfeng said on Tuesday during an earnings call with investors.
iFlytek first touted its LLM co-development with Huawei in June last year. The company’s efforts to double down on domestic computing infrastructure comes amid tightening chip restrictions from the US.
Nvidia said earlier this month that Washington now requires a licence to export its H20 chips to China. The H20 was a graphics processing unit (GPU) tailored for the Chinese market after its more powerful GPUs were restricted from sale to China over the past two years.
Having its LLMs built entirely with Chinese computing platforms gives iFlytek a competitive advantage, as organisations in China and overseas look to mitigate geopolitical risks amid the US-initiated global trade war, according to Liu.
“US restrictions for China’s use of computing power chips will become increasingly strict,” Liu said. “State-owned enterprises and critical industries in China will increasingly value self-reliant and controllable LLMs.”
If China is blocked entirely from accessing Nvidia chips, iFlytek’s “hard work” in building LLMs with domestic infrastructure would “provide an important safety net” for the country, Liu added.
The company will also promote its LLMs in global markets, as many countries are “concerned” and are looking for alternatives amid Trump’s tariff war, Liu also said on Tuesday.
Established in 1999, iFlytek said in July last year that it had set up its international headquarters in Hong Kong, from where it would offer its LLM and voice recognition tools to local customers, and expand the international reach of its intelligent education hardware and services. – South China Morning Post
