Huawei has bid to supply Egypt with 2,008 AI chips and build data center infrastructure. Meanwhile, the US considers a competing proposal, according to Bloomberg.

The proposed project would expand Egypt’s access to AI computing capacity. It will also allow the Chinese tech giant to grow its presence in the region.

Why You Should Care

For Egypt, the proposal is about more than adding computing capacity. Access to advanced AI infrastructure is becoming a prerequisite for countries looking to develop local AI capabilities.

A successful Huawei bid would give Egypt access to Huawei’s latest Ascend processors while strengthening the country’s position as an AI infrastructure hub in Africa. It could also give Huawei an important reference project outside China at a time when the company is seeking international markets for its AI hardware.

The Details

Huawei’s proposal includes 1,408 Ascend 950 series chips for a cloud platform designed to train AI models. It has also offered another 600 chips, either from the Ascend 950 series or the earlier Ascend 910B. This is to be used for two inference clusters that would run models after they have been trained.

Huawei is offering Egypt its top-end Ascend 950-series processors, which are more powerful than its 910C chips. The company has previously showcased the 950DT at an event in South Korea. Meanwhile, its Latin American cloud business has said Huawei is studying potential deployments of the accelerators in the region. Bloomberg reported that the Egypt proposal could therefore represent an early step in Huawei’s efforts to take its most advanced AI processors into international markets. 

The company has proposed completing the infrastructure within 12 months, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg News. 

Huawei’s proposal also involves a partnership with Chinese AI company iFlytek, the surveillance giant. The two companies have been on the US Commerce Department’s Entity List since 2019.

According to Bloomberg’s reporting, the US is now considering a competing proposal. The State Department has approached Nvidia, AMD and Microsoft about forming a US consortium that could bid against Huawei, according to Bloomberg’s sources.

The Ripple

The stakes extend beyond one data center. If Huawei secures the project, it would give the company an early international showcase for its Ascend processors and deepen its presence in the Middle East and Africa.

For Washington, the Egyptian tender is another test of how effectively US technology companies can compete with Chinese suppliers in emerging markets. Egypt’s position is particularly significant as the country continues to build the computing infrastructure to support its growing AI ambitions.

Egypt’s second national AI strategy aims for AI to contribute 7.7% of GDP by 2030. This makes access to the underlying computing infrastructure increasingly important to the country’s digital development.

What to Watch

The next step is whether Egypt moves forward with Huawei’s proposal or considers an alternative offer from US technology companies. Either outcome could add to Egypt’s AI computing capacity. Meanwhile, the project’s eventual scale and implementation will offer a clearer picture of how quickly the country can build the infrastructure needed to support its AI ambitions.

For now, however, the proposal remains unconfirmed. Bloomberg’s reporting is based on documents it reviewed and sources familiar with the matter. Moreover, neither Huawei nor Egyptian authorities have made any statements on the matter.