28-05-2025
China allegedly making its own supercomputer chips to cut dependence on US tech
Supercomputers have been a powerful tool ever since their birth in the 1960s. Today, almost every nation has advanced supercomputing facilities and systems capable of solving the most complex of tasks.
Chinese semiconductor manufacturer Hygon and supercomputer builder Sugon have announced the creation of a vertically integrated computing giant capable of building high-performance systems entirely with domestic technology.
The processor is a result of the stock swap merger between the two companies. This gives China control over both the chip design and supercomputer manufacturing.
The process began in 2016 when Hygon licensed AMD's first-generation Zen CPU design and x86-64 architecture. This is the most commonly used architecture for processors in computing today.
Hygon used the original license to develop its Dhyana processor series, which gained support from Linux kernel developers and adoption by Chinese tech giants like Tencent.
Meanwhile, Sugon used the Dhyana processor to make a machine that ranked in the Top 500 list of the world's most powerful supercomputing systems.
This partnership proved successful.
The merger timing coincides with Hygon's most ambitious processor announcement yet—the upcoming C86-5G processor. The CPU features 128 cores, capable of running 512 simultaneous threads through four-way simultaneous multithreading (SMT4).
In other words, this means that the CPU can run 512 operations or processes simultaneously. This roughly doubles the processing power offered by commercial Intel and AMD CPUs, which use two-way SMT.
Beyond threading, the C86-5G delivers a 17% improvement in instructions per cycle compared to its predecessor. This points to architectural improvements beyond adding cores to the CPU.
The processor also supports massive amounts of memory (up to 1TB) and modern connectivity features, putting it on par with current Intel and AMD chips.
Hygon went from licensing AMD's technology in 2016 to developing competitive processors independently. Now, combined with Sugon's supercomputing expertise, they can build complete high-performance systems entirely with Chinese technology.
The merger reflects China's broader strategy of building domestic semiconductor capability and reducing dependence on American chips.
It's a strategy that reflects broader industry practices. Major players such as AWS, Microsoft, and Google routinely co-develop processors and server architectures to optimize system performance.
For China, this vertical integration addresses critical supply chain vulnerabilities since both companies appear on U.S. export restriction lists.
The newly combined entity is expected to draw considerable attention from Chinese buyers who are actively looking for homegrown alternatives to American-made technologies.
