GSMA vs Huawei

UNDP and GSMA partner to scale African-led AI innovation

UNDP and GSMA partner to scale African-led AI innovation. Published Friday 2 October, 2026.

ZTE Opens Global Summit 2026 in Kuala Lumpur

ZTE Corporation opened its 15th Global Summit & User Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, co-located with GSMA M360 ASEAN. The event brought together over 500 participants, including Malaysian ministers, the Chinese ambassador, GSMA leaders, and global operator executives. Key themes focused on advancing from connectivity to digital value creation, with ZTE outlining its strategic shift to 'Connectivity plus Computing.' The company showcased full-scenario AI network solutions, an 'AI Factory' optimized for total cost of ownership, and AI-powered devices, along with an end-to-end commercial roadmap. Executives emphasized AI as the brain, communication infrastructure as the nervous system, and terminals as carriers. Malaysian officials stressed the importance of building local capabilities and moving beyond infrastructure to create tangible digital value for the ASEAN market, fostering regional digital economy growth.

• ZTE held the 15th Global Summit & User Congress in Kuala Lumpur.
• The event was co-located with GSMA M360 ASEAN for the first time.
• Over 500 participants attended, including Malaysian ministers, the Chinese ambassador, and GSMA leaders.

GSMA MWC26 Doha to co-locate alongside the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in November 2026

GSMA announces that MWC26 Doha will co-locate with the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in November 2026.

Huawei and Qualcomm Sign AI and 5G Patent Deal

Despite trade tensions, Huawei and Qualcomm have signed a cross-licensing agreement covering patents related to AI and 5G technology. The deal, announced in late September 2026, aims to reduce legal disputes and foster innovation. Financial terms were not disclosed. This collaboration is significant as it could stabilize supply chains and set a precedent for tech cooperation amid geopolitical friction, potentially benefiting the broader mobile and AI industries.

• Huawei and Qualcomm signed a cross-licensing agreement for AI and 5G patents.
• The deal was announced in late September 2026.
• Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Notice on Rotating Chairman Tenure

Huawei has published a press release titled 'Notice on Rotating Chairman Tenure' dated Sep 30, 2026, indicating a change in the rotating chairman position.

Alibaba's T-Head AI Chips: Cloud Customers or Qwen Training?

Alibaba announced at its Apsara conference that its new Zhenwu V900 AI chip will enter mass production and go on sale in Q1 2027, two quarters earlier than planned. This follows Huawei's announcement of its Ascend 960DT chip being ready in Q1 2027. Both companies face high demand and limited supply for their chips. IDC data shows Nvidia holds 55% of China's server AI accelerator shipments, Huawei 20%, and T-Head 7%. Alibaba plans to train Qwen models with 5-10 trillion parameters, but has not disclosed which chips will be used, raising concerns about competition between internal model training and paying cloud customers for scarce chip capacity.

• Alibaba announced its Zhenwu V900 chip will enter mass production and go on sale in Q1 2027.
• Huawei announced its Ascend 960DT chip will be ready in Q1 2027, three quarters earlier than planned.
• IDC reported Nvidia held 55% of China's server AI accelerator shipments in 2025, Huawei 20%, and T-Head 7%.