DeepSeek partners with Huawei to build programming tools for Ascend chips, challenging Nvidia's CUDA

DeepSeek said on Wednesday that it has partnered with Huawei Technologies to develop programming tools for Huawei's Ascend chips, Reuters reports. The move is the latest sign of Chinese tech companies deepening their ties as they look for alternatives to the Nvidia ecosystem.

What DeepSeek is open-sourcing

In a post on its official WeChat account, DeepSeek said it is open-sourcing the infrastructure for Huawei's Ascend platform. The release includes TileLang, a high-level programming language, along with compute and communication libraries.

The company lists DeepGEMM-Ascend, DeepEP-Ascend, TileKernels, FlashMLA and DeepSelect among the components. According to DeepSeek, each of them corresponds one-to-one with its equivalent on the Nvidia platform.

The case for TileLang

"To build a new generation of independent, self-controlled GPU software ecosystem, the first priority is establishing a high-level language that is universal, easy to program, and still capable of reaching the hardware's full performance potential," DeepSeek said.

"TileLang was created precisely to meet this need," the company added, saying the language offers "a simpler programming model" than Nvidia's CUDA, which improves development efficiency and simplifies code logic.

A 128-card supernode on Ascend 950

The two companies are also jointly advancing a 128-card supernode solution on the Ascend 950 chip. The stated goal is to reduce reliance on Nvidia's CUDA ecosystem.

Reuters describes the announcement as further evidence that Chinese tech firms are seeking alternatives to the Nvidia ecosystem together.