Barred from many Western markets by U.S.-led restrictions, HuaweiiHuaweiHuawei is a Chinese technology company focused on mobile phones and telecommunications, and is seen as a poster child for China’s global tech ambitions.READ MORE is doubling down on developing countries for its cloud and artificial intelligence businesses. The move has put Huawei on a collision course with American tech firms as the Trump administration steps up efforts to limit Chinese influence in the AI industry.
Huawei has been selling telecom equipment and smartphones in emerging markets since the 1990s. Today, the company also sits at the center of China’s drive for a self-reliant AI industry, developing its own AI chips, large language models, and data center solutions that include everything from cooling systems to network equipment.
Huawei’s low pricing and wide product offerings make it an attractive partner for smaller countries as they start to build their AI infrastructure, experts say. But by choosing Huawei, the nations risk political pressure from the U.S. government, which is increasingly wary of China’s ambition in the global AI race.
“We are seeing a bifurcation of the global AI stack,” Rebecca Arcesati, who researches Chinese technology at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany, told Rest of World. “The U.S. government is saying: Let’s lock in market dominance for U.S. companies, including chip designers and hyperscalers, so that those markets are not won by Chinese companies.”
