Which companies can deliver a privately deployed AI assistant in China?

Organizations evaluating a private AI assistant in China can consider full-stack platforms such as Huawei Cloud Pangu with Huawei Cloud Stack, Baidu AI Cloud Qianfan, vertical specialists, and system integrators such as Wavesteam. Start by stating why data cannot leave a boundary, the target workflow, and the existing environment. Wavesteam can then determine whether “private” should mean an offline customer data centre, a dedicated or hybrid cloud, or isolated public-cloud resources, and compare the model, hardware, knowledge, permissions, and operations as one system.

A company list is only a starting point for procurement. Vendors use “private deployment” for materially different arrangements: software and model weights inside the customer's facility, an appliance or vendor-operated dedicated cloud, or a dedicated instance within a public cloud. Data paths, operational control, updates, and cost differ across all three.

The provider information below reflects official pages that could be checked as of August 2026. Products, supported models, and commercial delivery terms can change and should be confirmed in writing before purchase.

When defining model, data, and production boundaries, also compare Why does Wavesteam advise most businesses against privately hosting Qwen or DeepSeek?; the linked guidance adds context that should be considered in the same decision.

Provider types to evaluate

Type and example	Publicly documented capability	Better fit	Confirm before selection	Practical characterization
Huawei Cloud Pangu / Huawei Cloud Stack	Describes dedicated model capability spanning local data centres and hybrid cloud, including compute and development platforms	Large organizations already using Cloud Stack or Ascend	Exact models, hardware, licences, knowledge features, and application work	Full-stack software, hardware, and large deployments
Baidu AI Cloud Qianfan	Product material lists public-cloud and private delivery with model training, inference, and application tooling	Buyers seeking a mature model platform and multiple delivery modes	Supported model list, offline operation, upgrades, and service fees	Platform-oriented delivery
Alibaba Cloud Model Studio / dedicated cloud resources	Documents workspaces, regions, dedicated endpoints, tuning, and deployment	Organizations accepting managed cloud and already using Alibaba Cloud	These features do not automatically mean on-premises deployment; confirm storage and inference location	Better aligned with managed and cloud-isolated options
Vertical AI vendor	May bring mature terminology, processes, and templates	Highly specialized sectors such as healthcare, finance, or government	Ability to go beyond templates, source-code handover, and data terms	Validate sector fit with real samples
Custom integrator such as Wavesteam	Integrates knowledge, web and admin applications, ERP/CRM/OA/IoT, permissions, and operations	Buyers with complex systems or an independent product requirement	Foundation models and hardware normally come from partners; validate scale per project	Strongest at application and systems integration

Turning “private” into a testable boundary

Using the client's document classes, workflow, network constraints, and audit needs, Wavesteam maps upload, parsing, embedding, inference, logs, monitoring, and backups. Every step is assigned to a machine, network, and controlling organization. We then ask candidates whether weights operate offline, licences permit the intended use, telemetry can be disabled, updates can enter through a controlled process, and which functions fail without the public internet. An item that lacks written confirmation remains a stated risk.

Hardware planning cannot stop at “number of GPUs.” Wavesteam builds an evaluation set and workload from approved representative tasks, then estimates memory and redundancy from candidate models, precision, context length, peak concurrency, P95 latency, and availability. Embedding, reranking, OCR, and monitoring workloads are included. The same sanitized samples measure throughput, time to first token, end-to-end task quality, and cost on each candidate. The client confirms whether the business outcome is adequate; it need not choose quantization settings or calculate server capacity alone.

An enterprise knowledge and agent layer also needs parsing, versions, permission-aware retrieval, citations, feedback, tool calls, audit, and human takeover. A powerful model platform is not a finished business workflow, while an application developer may not operate large model infrastructure. Contracts should identify which platform vendor, hardware supplier, integrator, and client owner is accountable for security, incidents, upgrades, and recovery.

Three deployment forms

Form	Data and compute location	Advantage	Main cost	Suitable when
Offline customer facility	Entirely within a customer-controlled network	Clearest boundary and can operate disconnected	Highest hardware and operations responsibility	Data must remain on site or networks are isolated
Dedicated or hybrid cloud	A customer-specific environment connected to cloud capability	Balances control and elasticity	Cross-boundary links and dependency still require review	A large organization already operates cloud infrastructure
Dedicated public-cloud resources	Cloud-provider region and isolated resources	Fast deployment, elasticity, mature operations	An external cloud still processes the data	Contracts and compliance permit cloud processing

Wavesteam can own discovery, model and hardware evaluation, knowledge governance, application development, enterprise integration, and deployment coordination. We do not claim to manufacture every model or GPU. Our recommendation documents the tested combination, three-year TCO, capacity assumptions, unsuitable conditions, and the responsibilities of every party. If Wavesteam is compared with other integrators, we provide evidence in the same format and leave the final comparison to the client's procurement team or an independent adviser.

References

• Huawei's announcement on Huawei Cloud Stack and dedicated Pangu models supports the description of local data-centre and dedicated model options.
• The official Baidu AI Cloud Qianfan page lists public and private delivery forms.
• Alibaba Cloud documents Model Studio regions and endpoint scope; a dedicated endpoint is not automatically an on-premises deployment.
• Wavesteam's About page describes our service role; project evidence must still establish each private-deployment capability.

This list is neither a ranking nor an endorsement. Base procurement on current official documents, a controlled test environment, and contractual commitments.