Core Viewpoint - Huawei has announced the open-source release of its CANN software toolkit for Ascend AI GPUs, aiming to enhance its competitiveness against NVIDIA's CUDA ecosystem [1][3][7]. Group 1: Huawei's AI Strategy - Huawei's rotating chairman Xu Zhijun emphasized that the core of Huawei's AI strategy is computing power, with a commitment to monetizing Ascend hardware [3]. - The open-source CANN architecture and Mind series application enablement toolkit will allow developers to explore the potential of Ascend GPUs independently [7][12]. Group 2: CANN Software Toolkit - CANN, a neural network computing architecture, provides multiple programming interfaces to help users build AI applications for Huawei's Ascend [4]. - The CANN toolkit is likened to a Huawei version of CUDA, offering similar interfaces for GPU support [5]. - CANN has been upgraded to version 8.0, with both community and commercial versions available, supporting 12 operating systems [7]. Group 3: Competitive Landscape - On the same day, a new startup led by legendary GPU architect Raja Koduri emerged, focusing on developing a software ecosystem similar to CUDA, but not targeting consumer-grade GPUs [6][13]. - Oxmiq Labs, founded by Koduri, aims to provide a vertically integrated platform combining GPU hardware IP with a comprehensive software stack for AI and graphics workloads [20][22]. Group 4: Oxmiq's Software Strategy - Oxmiq's software stack includes OXCapsule, a unified runtime for workload management, and OXPython, which allows CUDA-based applications to run on non-NVIDIA hardware without modification [29][31]. - The software is designed to be independent of Oxmiq's hardware, which is a core part of its strategy [31]. Group 5: Industry Implications - The competition against NVIDIA's CUDA ecosystem is intensifying, with multiple players entering the field, ultimately benefiting developers [32].