Huawei launches latest Ascend supernode to accelerate trillion-parameter AI

Huawei Technologies Co unveiled on Thursday the world's first supernode using near-package optics, or NPO, technology, the Ascend 960, at Huawei Connect 2026, to accelerate trillion-parameter AI model training and inference.

Wang Tao, deputy chairman and rotating chairman of Huawei, said in a keynote that Huawei's AI strategy centers on computing power.

The company will focus on AI infrastructure and hardware monetization, building competitiveness through "supernode + cluster" innovation to create a solid computing foundation and open ecosystem.

As large language models move toward the trillion-parameter scale, supernodes are inevitable for ultra-large AI infrastructure. Huawei said its design uses a single protocol to connect all components equally, supports cross-server memory access and adopts near-copper, far-optical interconnection.

Huawei said multiple Ascend 960 supernodes can form clusters of up to 512,000 cards, or 1 million cards with multi-track topology.

Wang said Ascend has crossed the ecosystem tipping point. More than 1,000 Ascend 910C supernodes have been deployed, while the Ascend 950 is in commercial use.

"Huawei will keep building strong AI infrastructure and an open computing ecosystem, supporting mainstream models to train natively on Ascend and embracing the intelligent world," he said.