Huawei has launched the latest version of its Harmony operating system, HarmonyOS Next, and an updated Pangu 5.0 large language model (LLM) in a bid to reduce reliance on foreign technology.
Huawei announced these major advancements in AI and operating systems at its developers' conference in Dongguan, China, directly challenging industry leaders like OpenAI, Google, Apple, and Nvidia (via Nikkei Asia).
People visit the stand of Huawei Chinese corporation during the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, in Barcelona on February 26, 2024.PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images
Huawei Unveils HarmonyOS Next
This new operating system is designed to be used across all Huawei products, such as smartphones, PCs, tablets, cars, wearables, and enterprise applications.
According to Richard Yu, chairman of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, HarmonyOS Next is distinguished by its self-controllable and secure architecture, a feature that Huawei has prioritized since the company was placed on the US trade blacklist.
"We have seized this opportunity to overtake [the others] on a bend by building an operating system that is self-controllable and secure," Yu stated.
He further emphasized that Huawei has achieved significant milestones in a decade that Western countries took three to four decades to accomplish.
Since its debut, HarmonyOS has been installed on over 900 million devices, making it the second-largest mobile operating system in China. According to data from Canalys, HarmonyOS held a 17.95% market share in the first quarter of 2024, surpassing Apple's iOS and doubling from 2% year-on-year to 4%.
Yu announced that more than 1,500 out of the 5,000 top applications had migrated from Android to HarmonyOS.
Alongside HarmonyOS Next, Huawei unveiled the Pangu 5.0 LLM, which comes in four different sizes to cater to various needs. The smallest model can be embedded in smartphones, while the midsize model boasts up to 90 billion parameters.
The "ultra" model, with up to 230 billion parameters, is designed for complex enterprise tasks, and the "super" model has a staggering one trillion parameters. In comparison, OpenAI's latest GPT-4 model has 1.76 trillion parameters, highlighting the competitive edge of Huawei's new AI model.
Huawei's advancements are not limited to software. The company is developing hardware solutions to rival Nvidia, including AI accelerators powered by Ascend chips, Kunpeng server CPUs, and Kirin chips for devices.
Harmony Intelligence and Future Plans
To further integrate its AI capabilities, Huawei launched the Harmony Intelligence infrastructure, which includes the AI voice assistant Celia. This infrastructure aims to enhance the functionality of Huawei devices, making them more intelligent and efficient. The new flagship smartphone, Mate 70, will feature HarmonyOS Next, with more models expected to support the OS in 2025.
In a bid to refine HarmonyOS Next, Huawei has initiated a beta testing phase, recruiting developers and pioneer users, GizChina reports. The recruitment, limited to 3,000 participants, runs from June 21 to June 28, 2024, with the review process extending to July 9, 2024. This beta testing is currently available for specific Huawei models, including the Mate 60 series and MatePad Pro.
