TikTok parent company ByteDance has big plans to buy Nvidia chips in 2025 – despite US restrictions.
ByteDance plans to spend $7 billion on chips in 2025, The Information reported, citing inside sources. If ByteDance goes ahead, it will become one of the world’s leading owners of Nvidia chips, despite US efforts to restrict Chinese companies from buying AI chips like these.
In 2022, the US announced export restrictions on certain types of AI chips to countries including China, where ByteDance is headquartered. These restrictions have been tightened several times since then.
ByteDance is technically complying with these restrictions by using a loophole: The company is not bringing the chips directly to China and is instead storing them in data centers located in other regions such as Southeast Asia, The Information reported. This technically does not violate US restrictions.
ByteDance runs Doubao, China’s “hottest” AI chatbot with 51 million active users, according to the South China Morning Post.
TechCrunch reached out to ByteDance for more information.
