Huawei to Offer AI Support
to Chinese Aviation, Steel Conglomerate Fangda
The
deal between Huawei and Fangda comes as the Shenzhen-based
technology giant is deepening its footprint in traditional industries
Chinese
telecommunications gear giant Huawei Technologies will work with the steel and aviation
industries to drive the use of digital and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies
through a deal with industrial conglomerate Fangda Group
Industrial.
Huawei
signed strategic partnership deals on Friday with Hainan Airlines Holding and Fangda Special Steel Technology, both owned by Fangda Group. The collaboration focuses on smart transformation,
trial applications of AI large language models (LLM), the low-altitude economy and
other areas, according to a statement issued by the conglomerate, whose business
interests also cover the carbon, healthcare and commerce sectors.
The
deal between Huawei and Fangda comes as the Shenzhen-based
technology giant is deepening its footprint in traditional industries to empower
China’s conventional businesses with its AI and communication technologies.
Fangda chairman Fang Wei said the company hoped
to further expand its collaboration with Huawei into its pharmaceutical business,
based on the “long-term and in-depth cooperation” in aviation and steel, according
to the statement published on Sunday.
While
the aviation and steel segments under Fangda are very
different industries, they both have the foundational need to develop AI and big
data technologies, Huawei’s cloud chief Zhang Pingan was
quoted as saying in the statement.
Privately
held Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
According
to a separate statement by Fangda Special Steel, the company
will work with Huawei to build a steel industry model and tackle the challenges
of applying LLMs in the industry.
The
partnership will “promote the deep integration of digital technology with the firm’s
core steel business operations”, and boost the company’s digitisation level and
competitiveness in the market, Fangda Special Steel also
said.
The
new partnerships formed by Huawei, the world’s largest telecoms equipment supplier
and one of China’s major smartphone vendors, came amid the company’s ongoing efforts
to diversify its business into traditional industries by applying technologies such
as cloud computing and AI.
Last
year, Huawei struck a partnership with Sichuan Zigong Conveying Machine Group to
expand the adoption of AI in heavy industries such as mining, bulk material transport
and equipment manufacturing.
The
company also deepened its integration with the auto industry by establishing Yinwang, a smart car joint venture focused on autonomous driving,
the digital cockpit, auto lighting and vehicle control systems.
Huawei
has been diversifying into new industries in China after US sanctions decimated
its once-lucrative smartphone business. Barred from accessing US-origin technologies,
the tech giant has stepped up efforts to reduce reliance on both foreign software
and hardware, and is rebuilding its consumer business around the Mate 70 series
smartphones with China-made processors.
Huawei’s
rotating chairwoman Meng Wanzhou lauded the company’s
triumphs in a new year message, highlighting breakthroughs in areas of heat dissipation,
power supplies, high-speed transmission systems and chip reliability. Huawei operates
a dozen research and development laboratories, where it works with partners to design
semiconductors used for training AI models, including high-bandwidth memory chips.