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Top Huawei chip scientist opens up on strategy, ‘blind arrogance’ and his war-hero mindset

Huawei's chief scientist Liao Heng discusses his journey from skepticism to leading Ascend AI chips, while founder Ren Zhengfei endorses the Tau Scaling Law as Huawei's survival path amid US sanctions.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 outlet · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Jul 24 – Aug 4, 2026 Published Aug 14

Lead

In a rare public appearance, Huawei Technologies' top chip scientist Liao Heng has opened up about his initial doubts, his change of heart, and the company's strategy to overcome US sanctions. Meanwhile, founder Ren Zhengfei has thrown his weight behind Huawei's Tau Scaling Law, a chip-design principle he describes as the "only path forward" for the company to survive.

Coverage Comparison

Two recent reports from the South China Morning Post shed light on different facets of Huawei's semiconductor strategy. One focuses on Liao Heng's personal journey and the company's execution capabilities, while the other highlights Ren Zhengfei's endorsement of the Tau Scaling Law as a matter of existential necessity.

The first article presents Liao's story as one of transformation: his skepticism about China's ability to build world-class chips, and his eventual conversion after witnessing Huawei's efficiency. The second article frames the Tau Scaling Law within the broader context of US sanctions, quoting Ren's internal remarks that emphasize survival over ambition.

Both reports are based on interviews and internal communications, with Liao speaking on a business podcast and Ren's remarks posted on Huawei's Xinsheng Community intranet, as reported by the state-backed Science and Technology Daily.

Key Claims

Liao Heng, who joined Huawei's chip-design unit in 2016, is now the chief scientist of Huawei's semiconductor business and the chief architect behind its Ascend AI processors, according to the South China Morning Post.
Liao, a former child prodigy who entered Tsinghua University at age 14, said that working abroad bred a "blind arrogance" that only Western firms could innovate, but his view changed after witnessing Huawei's execution, the report says.
The South China Morning Post reports that HiSilicon, Huawei's chip unit, "taped out" dozens of new chips annually without a single failure to reach mass production, a hit rate Liao cited as evidence of the team's capability.
Ren Zhengfei described the Tau Scaling Law as "the only path forward for Huawei to break the siege," according to internal remarks reported by the South China Morning Post and Science and Technology Daily.
Huawei employees spent six years developing the Tau Scaling Law through continuous iteration, Ren said, adding that it was not about disrupting or replacing anything but finding a viable road.

Ren's remarks mark his first public endorsement of the Tau Scaling Law since it was unveiled in May by He Tingbo, president of HiSilicon. The quotes also serve as the preface for a new book on Huawei's management philosophy, written by company consultant Tian Tao.

Liao's interview, hosted last month by a reporter from a mainland news organisation, revealed how he brought Silicon Valley expertise back to China and leveraged domestic strengths to build a self-sustaining AI computing infrastructure, according to the South China Morning Post.

How this outlet told it

South China Morning Post as of Aug 4, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC

Framing: Personal story of Liao Heng's journey to Huawei — Inspiring and optimistic

Facts Included:

Liao Heng joined Huawei's chip-design unit in 2016
Liao was a former child prodigy who entered Tsinghua University at 14
Huawei's chip unit, HiSilicon, designs dozens of new chips annually
Liao is the chief scientist of Huawei's semiconductor business and chief architect of Ascend AI processors

Read the source article →

South China Morning Post as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:15 PM UTC

Framing: Huawei's survival strategy amid US sanctions — Serious and determined

Facts Included:

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei endorsed the Tau Scaling Law
The law is seen as an existential necessity for Huawei to survive US sanctions
Ren described the law as the 'only path forward' for Huawei
Huawei employees spent six years developing the law

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimLiao Heng joined Huawei's chip-design unit in 2016. He was a former child prodigy who entered Tsinghua University at 14.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via South China Morning Post as of Aug 4, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC
ClaimHuawei's chip unit, HiSilicon, designs dozens of new chips annually without a single failure to reach mass production.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via South China Morning Post as of Aug 4, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC
ClaimLiao Heng is the chief scientist of Huawei's semiconductor business and chief architect of Ascend AI processors.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via South China Morning Post as of Aug 4, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC
ClaimHuawei founder Ren Zhengfei endorsed the Tau Scaling Law, describing it as the 'only path forward' for Huawei to survive US sanctions.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via South China Morning Post as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:15 PM UTC
ClaimHuawei employees spent six years developing the Tau Scaling Law.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via South China Morning Post as of Jul 24, 2026, 1:15 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 outlet · 2 articles consulted: South China Morning Post 5 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-14