Arab Finance: Chinese technology company Huawei Technologies has submitted a bid to supply Egypt with 2,008 artificial intelligence (AI) chips and build data center infrastructure for training and running AI models, prompting the United States to explore a competing proposal, Bloomberg reported.

The offer was submitted in response to a recent Egyptian government tender and includes 1,408 chips from Huawei’s Ascend 950 series for a cloud platform dedicated to training AI models. Huawei also proposed supplying another 600 Ascend 950 or Ascend 910B chips for two inference clusters, which would run trained models.

Huawei outlined a 12-month schedule for completing the infrastructure, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by Bloomberg. The project is intended for government use, but Egyptian authorities have not confirmed whether the offer has been accepted or the tender awarded to Huawei.

After learning of the proposal, the administration of US President Donald Trump began considering a competing package. The US Department of State contacted NVIDIA, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and Microsoft about forming an American consortium to bid against Huawei, according to people familiar with the discussions who requested anonymity.

The potential contest comes as Washington restricts exports of advanced AI chips to Egypt. Shipments have required US approval since 2023, allowing American authorities to impose conditions through the export licensing process.

Huawei’s proposal includes a partnership with Chinese AI company iFLYTEK. Huawei and iFLYTEK were separately added to the US Commerce Department’s Entity List in 2019, subjecting transactions involving American technology to licensing requirements.

Securing the project would support Huawei’s efforts to extend its AI infrastructure business beyond China and establish a foothold in the Middle East and Africa. It would also test the company’s ability to export its Ascend processors as US restrictions limit its access to equipment and technologies used in advanced chip manufacturing.