Rohan Paul (@rohanpaul_ai) “Per The Information, Zhipu AI is also (after DeepSeek) exploring a custom ASIC a”

2026.07.07 15:45

Per The Information, Zhipu AI is also (after DeepSeek) exploring a custom ASIC after GLM-5.2 usage reportedly jumped 27x in one week. A custom ASIC removes flexibility, but it can cut power draw and per-token cost. Nvidia GPUs are strong general-purpose machines, but inference at scale has different economics. A fixed model can run better on silicon designed around its own repeated operations. Zhipu has not chosen a partner, and the project may take more than 2 years. The pattern is now bigger than one Chinese lab or one model launch. Chinese AI companies are trying to make software, hardware, and deployment less separable.

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Rohan Paul@rohanpaul_ai

2026.07.07 15:41

DeepSeek is building an inference chip to cut dependence on Nvidia and Huawei in China’s $50B AI-chip market. DeepSeek’s chip work is still early, with outside partners and private hiring of chip-design engineers. The hard part is not drawing a chip, but making it at scale. Advanced foundries and high-bandwidth memory remain chokepoints because U.S. rules restrict Chinese access. DeepSeek can still gain from a narrower chip built mainly for its own models. A custom inference chip could lower serving costs, reduce power needs, and tighten software-hardware control. --- reuters .com/world/china/chinas-deepseek-developing-its-own-ai-chip-sources-say-2026-07-07/

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