DeepSeek plans massive Inner Mongolia AI hub powered by 160,000 Huawei chips

DeepSeek is planning a large-scale AI data center in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, that will install at least 160,000 Huawei Ascend 950DT processors dedicated to inference workloads. The project will start with roughly 550 MW of self-generated electricity plus 35 MW of leased capacity, with long-term goals of reaching one gigawatt of owned power and up to 5.5 GW when leased resources are included. Huawei’s chips are intended for inference, while Nvidia GPUs will continue to be used for training new models.

Production constraints and a shortage of advanced memory chips mean hardware deliveries will span more than a year, delaying full operation. The center, slated to open in November, will join Inner Mongolia’s growing data-center cluster, which benefits from low temperatures, cheap electricity, and a high share of renewable energy. If realized, the order would represent the largest AI cluster built with Huawei technology and a significant step toward reducing China’s reliance on U.S. chips.