(Yicai) Sept. 16 -- Artificial intelligence represents the “biggest growth opportunity” for Huawei Technologies, as the world’s top companies deploy AI across their businesses, the chairman of the Chinese tech giant's supervisory board has said.

“Huawei’s businesses such as smartphones and intelligent driving feature a technology-iteration model based on a ‘data flywheel,’” Guo Ping said recently when sharing the Shenzhen-based company’s strategic positioning with new employees. A “data flywheel” is a self-reinforcing cycle where continuous data flows help improve algorithms and products, attracting more users and generating still more data in turn.

“Building world-class competitive intelligent agents with AI represents an important opportunity for us,” Guo said. A transcript of the meeting was posted on the Shenzhen-based company’s internal communications platform yesterday.

The United States and China are home to most of the leading players in the three critical resources underpinning AI: computing power, data and talent, Guo said, expressing confidence that Huawei can represent China's highest capability and offer competitive options for customers in the country and around the world.

While China still lags the US in computing power, he said it has an advantage in data applications and industrial use cases, while the two countries are broadly comparable in terms of talent. Huawei hopes to leverage its talent base and sound development environment to help the company establish an edge in AI, he added.

Huawei is positioning itself as a major Chinese AI infrastructure provider, rather than primarily an AI model developer. Its flagship Ascend chips, Kunpeng processors, and large-scale computing systems are intended to provide an alternative to Nvidia, making Huawei strategically important to China’s efforts to build a domestic AI ecosystem amid US technology restrictions.

Huawei aims to become the Nvidia of the information and communications technology and computing space, Guo stressed. The core of the strategy is not to build proprietary AI models, but to enable customers to develop high-performing models, allowing any model worldwide to run efficiently on Huawei Ascend, Kunpeng, SuperPoD, and clusters, he noted.

The firm plans to narrow its performance gap with competitors through architectural innovation in its Ascend 950 AI chips, Guo said. The priority is not simply stacking parameters, but delivering customer experience and solving real-world problems, he said, adding that securing overall advantages via clusters and SuperPoD also embodies its approach of building on strengths while mitigating weaknesses.

According to Guo, AI may be the last technological revolution for human society and Huawei must gain competitive advantages, so its organization, workflows, capabilities, and talent pool must align with the shift. For talent in the AI era, the most critical skills are the ability to precisely define problems, conduct iterative inquiry, and solve practical issues, while continuous learning remains a foundational competency for career survival and advancement, he pointed out.

Huawei's core strategy is to continue deepening its presence in connectivity and computing, with "no plans for business expansion," he said, adding that what the company truly needs to focus on is not the external environment, but its own capabilities, whether it can deliver competitive products and services and create value for customers.

"Huawei aspires to achieve better business results, provide digital infrastructure solutions for global clients, offer diversified options for AI development, deepen its expertise within its focused areas, and generate greater value," Guo stressed.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev