Alibaba’s AI chip goes head-to-head with Nvidia H20 in state-backed benchmark demo

Alibaba's semiconductor unit, T-Head, has developed an AI processor, the PPU, that reportedly matches Nvidia's H20 GPU in performance. The comparison was showcased on China Central Television during a broadcast about Premier Li Qiang's visit to a computing center. The PPU features 96 GB of HBM2e, 700 GB/s chip-to-chip interconnect, PCIe support, and 400 W board power. China Unicom has already deployed 16,384 PPU cards, delivering 3,579 petaflops of compute power. The geopolitical context involves Nvidia's H20 being tailored to comply with U.S. export controls, while Alibaba's software compatibility and real-world performance remain to be seen.