BEIJING, China: China's Huawei Technologies is stepping up efforts to challenge U.S. dominance in artificial intelligence hardware, developing a new chip aimed at rivaling Nvidia's top offerings, the Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend.

Huawei has invited select Chinese tech companies to test its most powerful processor yet, the Ascend 910D, the report said, citing sources familiar with the matter. The company hopes the new chip will surpass Nvidia's H100 in performance and expects to receive the first batch of samples as early as late May.

The move underscores Huawei's broader ambition to offer homegrown alternatives as U.S. export restrictions tighten. Reuters reported earlier that Huawei also plans to begin mass shipments of its existing advanced 910C AI chip to Chinese customers starting next month.

While Huawei and other Chinese tech firms have made strides, they have struggled for years to match Nvidia's dominance in AI chips used to train complex machine-learning models. Training models require vast computing power, an area where Nvidia's chips have long led the market.

U.S. efforts to curb China's technological advancement, particularly in sectors with military applications, have included banning sales of Nvidia's most advanced AI products. Among them, the H100 chip was prohibited from sale in China in 2022, even before it officially launched.

Nvidia declined to comment, while Huawei did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, according to the report.