Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek has hinted that China will soon have homegrown “next generation” chips to support its AI models, while announcing an update to one of its large language models.
In a comment under a post on its official WeChat account, DeepSeek said the “UE8M0 FP8” precision format of its newly released model V3.1 is tailored for the next-generation domestically built chips that will be launched soon.
FP8, or 8-bit floating point, is a data processing format that can boost the computational efficiency for training and inference of large deep learning models.
DeepSeek’s mention of China’s coming next-generation chips may signal plans to work more closely with China’s emerging AI chip ecosystem in the face of Washington’s advanced semiconductor export restrictions and Beijing’s push for chip self-sufficiency.
The comments come about two weeks after Beijing reportedly urged Chinese AI developers to use domestic alternatives to Nvidia’s graphics processing units used in AI training. While analysts say China’s domestic AI chipmakers lag behind Nvidia in technological advancement and scale, players like Huawei have been making progress.
