Meet Cambricon: how 2 ‘genius brothers’ created China’s potential rival to Nvidia
The Chen brothers were students in an elite CAS ‘genius youth class’, a special programme designed to train top local talent
The hottest company in China right now is Cambricon Technologies, an artificial intelligence chipmaker whose stock has surged about 10-fold over the past two years, driven by expectations that it could be a serious challenger to Nvidia in the mainland market.
The frenzy over Cambricon, whose stock is trading at an eye-watering trailing 12-month price-to-earnings ratio above 4,000 – compared to under 60 for Nvidia – reflects a growing belief in China that the country is on a path to develop an AI ecosystem independent from US hardware.
Chinese model developer DeepSeek’s recent suggestion that the country’s “next-generation home-grown AI chips” were just around the corner has ignited enthusiasm about Cambricon’s prospects, analysts said.
“The rapid surge in Cambricon’s valuation reflects not just its recent growth but also heavy anticipation of future potential,” said Ray Wang, research director with a focus on the global semiconductor industry at Futurum Group. “This optimism is largely driven by regulatory and geopolitical shifts, strong domestic AI demand, and the latest DeepSeek optimisations for local hardware.”
The company’s core business is the development and design of AI chips for cloud servers, edge devices and terminals, as well as data-centre clusters. Cambricon is reportedly developing its flagship Siyuan 690, set to succeed the Siyuan 590 series launched in 2023. The new chip is expected to approach the capabilities of Nvidia’s H100.
Cambricon was founded in 2016 by two brothers, Chen Yunji and Chen Tianshi, who are now 42 and 40 years old, respectively. Born in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province, they both went on to work at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the country’s top science research agency.