华为Fellow、半导体首席科学家廖恒于7月25日罕见接受长达5小时的专访，首次公开阐述了对半导体产业的系统性思考[1]。廖恒提出了半导体产业链的"18层宝塔"理论，认为产业需要纵向贯通多层的复合型人才，该体系涵盖从矿石、材料、设备、制造工艺，到芯片架构、编译器、编程语言，再到模型算法和应用服务等至少18层的完整链条[1]。
廖恒自2016年加入华为海思以来，主导了昇腾910、昇腾950等芯片型号的研发[1]。在此次访谈中，他高度评价了DeepSeek创始人梁文锋的战略眼光，称其"已经先知先觉地提前去解决一个他预期到的问题。这就是先验者的价值"[1]。廖恒同时指出，未来芯片竞争已进入全链路系统化阶段，单纯比拼单芯片性能的时代已成过去[1]。
在个人履历方面，廖恒14岁考入清华大学计算机系少年班，1996年获博士学位，其后赴普林斯顿大学从事博士后研究[1]。他于1997年加入PMC-Sierra公司，在海外芯片设计领域深耕近20年[1]。廖恒坦诚曾犯过三次方向性误判，包括反对做鲲鹏ARM服务器CPU、反对昇腾做训练卡，以及低估数据中心算力需求[1]。
Liao Heng, Huawei Fellow and chief scientist of semiconductors, granted a rare five-hour interview on July 25, offering uncommon public insight into his thinking on the semiconductor industry [1]. During the discussion, he introduced the "18-Layer Pagoda" theory of the semiconductor supply chain, proposing that the industry requires vertically integrated composite talent across multiple layers [1]. The framework spans from raw materials, materials, and equipment through manufacturing processes, chip architecture, compilers, and programming languages, extending to model algorithms and application services, forming a complete ecosystem of at least 18 layers [1].
Liao, who joined Huawei HiSilicon in 2016 [1], has led development of the Ascend 910 and Ascend 950 chips [1]. In the interview, he offered high praise for DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng's strategic decision to adopt a sparse activation architecture, stating: "He has already demonstrated prescient foresight by addressing a problem he anticipated in advance. This is the value of a pioneer" [1]. Liao emphasized that future chip competition will be systemic and full-chain rather than centered on individual chip performance metrics alone [1].
Reflecting on his career, Liao revealed three significant strategic misjudgments: opposing the development of Kunpeng ARM server CPUs, opposing Ascend's entry into training cards, and underestimating data center compute demand [1]. His background includes joining PMC-Sierra in 1997 and spending nearly 20 years refining chip design expertise overseas [1]. Liao entered Tsinghua University's computer science accelerated program at age 14, earned his doctorate in 1996, and subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at Princeton University [1].
