Huawei pushes AI and cloud into emerging markets after U.S. ban

Barred from many Western markets by U.S.-led restrictions, HuaweiiHuaweiHuawei is a Chinese technology company focused on mobile phones and telecommunications, and is seen as a poster child for China’s global tech ambitions.READ MORE is doubling down on developing countries for its cloud and artificial intelligence businesses. The move has put Huawei on a collision course with American tech firms as the Trump administration steps up efforts to limit Chinese influence in the AI industry. 

Huawei has been selling telecom equipment and smartphones in emerging markets since the 1990s. Today, the company also sits at the center of China’s drive for a self-reliant AI industry, developing its own AI chips, large language models, and data center solutions that include everything from cooling systems to network equipment.

Huawei’s low pricing and wide product offerings make it an attractive partner for smaller countries as they start to build their AI infrastructure, experts say. But by choosing Huawei, the nations risk political pressure from the U.S. government, which is increasingly wary of China’s ambition in the global AI race.

“We are seeing a bifurcation of the global AI stack,” Rebecca Arcesati, who researches Chinese technology at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany, told Rest of World. “The U.S. government is saying: Let’s lock in market dominance for U.S. companies, including chip designers and hyperscalers, so that those markets are not won by Chinese companies.” 

Up for grabs is a global AI infrastructure market that is estimated to reach $200 billion in annual spending in 2028. Chip manufacturers including Nvidia and AMD, as well as cloud providers such as Google, Amazon, and Chinese tech giants, are competing for a larger share of the market, which is growing quickly as countries race to harness AI for socioeconomic benefits.

We are seeing a bifurcation of the global AI stack.”

The Biden administration’s efforts to block China’s access to American AI chips has only encouraged China to nurture its own chip industry. Now, the Trump administration is trying to prevent Chinese companies from gaining share in the global AI market. In July, the U.S. allowed Nvidia to resume selling its H20 chips in China, a move seen as reinforcing Nvidia’s dominance. Trump also unveiled an AI Action Plan, pledging to export America’s “full AI technology stack” — including software, hardware, models and applications — to keep countries from turning to Chinese alternatives.

Huawei’s turn toward emerging economies follows years of Western pushback. Since 2018, the U.S. and several European countries have banned its telecom gear, citing security concerns, and have urged other governments to follow suit. In 2019, Washington barred Huawei from buying American technology, accusing it of intellectual property theft and sanctions violations. 

In response, Huawei has focused on smaller markets, sometimes piggybacking on deals the Chinese government forged as part of its Belt and Road Infrastructure project. Since 2024, Huawei has helped Algeria build a government data center, and expanded cloud coverage in the Philippines, Egypt, and Nigeria. Other initiatives include a university data center in Nicaragua and a proposed facility for Nepal Telecom. In August, Pakistan’s Indus Cloud and Huawei announced they would build a new cloud data center for local customers, which supports the adoption of technologies such as big data and AI. 

In all of these countries that are often overlooked by American firms, Huawei has found eager customers.

“The Western European and U.S. markets, the wealthiest and most lucrative, are either too contested or off-limits due to policy restrictions,” Jeffrey Ding, a professor at George Washington University who studies China’s AI industry, told Rest of World. “A lot of these markets are not that ready to adopt AI because they have not even hit strong levels of digitization.” 

Still, Huawei is pitching AI products in these countries with a view to the future. In Egypt, for example, Huawei launched an Arabic LLM and has explored partnerships with the health care authority for AI-driven medical services. In South Africa, Huawei is promoting AI cloud adoption with data centers powered by its chips. It has also pitched Ascend 910B AI processors to potential customers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand.

Huawei’s competitiveness comes from its experience in emerging markets, and its ability to offer integrated products including chips, cloud services, and machine learning frameworks, said Arcesati. “[Huawei] has this integrated offer, and the price point that could make that offer more appealing for countries in the global south that don’t have the deep pockets of advanced economies,” she said. 

The U.S. government, for its part, is looking to thwart Huawei’s expansion through diplomatic pressure and trade restrictions. In May, the U.S. Commerce Department issued guidance warning that companies risked violating export controls by using Huawei’s Ascend AI chips. The same month, the Malaysia government retracted its remarks that it would deploy AI servers powered by the chips. 

As the U.S.-China AI rivalry heats up, having fewer customers can hamper Huawei’s ability to innovate.

“What Huawei needs the most right now are customers. Once customers give it more feedback, [Huawei] can fine-tune its software and hardware,” Ray Wang, research director at The Futurum Group, a tech advisory, told Rest of World. Nvidia’s vast customer base is a major contributor to its ability to innovate, he said. “No one in the world is as good as Nvidia. But the point is, you get into the market and gradually get some customers, receive feedback, and continue to push for innovation.” 

The Western European and U.S. markets, the wealthiest and most lucrative, are either too contested or off-limits due to policy restrictions.”

Meanwhile, Huawei’s Chinese peers like Alibaba and Tencent are also expanding their AI and cloud businesses abroad. Besides selling infrastructure, the Chinese cloud providers are using soft power, promoting AI education to build brand loyalty and expand their user base. Huawei has launched a developer certification initiative, similar to Nvidia’s training and certification programs, to train potential users on its AI computing tools. 

At Mansoura University in Cairo, Huawei offers an introductory course on AI, which teaches the basics of Python, machine learning, and deep learning. Hasan Abdelhady, a recent graduate from an AI engineering program, told Rest of World he took the course on Huawei’s online learning platform. 

“It’s only introductory, but it’s good for students because it gives them sort of a head start,” he said. As a freelance AI engineer, Abdelhady has not used any Huawei products, but he is now more familiar with the company, he said. The education initiatives have helped. 

“Huawei’s name has definitely gotten more popular in Egypt over the past few years, and I think the programs are one of the reasons.”