ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, is reportedly planning to utilize AI chips from fellow Chinese tech giant Huawei, according to sources familiar with the matter. The move marks a significant shift away from the company’s previous reliance on NVIDIA’s H20 AI chips, which were specifically designed to circumvent US trade restrictions imposed in 2022.
The US government had restricted the sale of certain AI chips to Chinese customers in an effort to slow down China’s technological advancements. However, ByteDance has apparently found an alternative solution by partnering with Huawei, which has been developing its own line of AI chips.
According to sources, ByteDance has ordered 100,000 of Huawei’s Ascend 910B chips, but has only received 30,000 so far due to a chip shortage. The Ascend 910B chips are said to outperform NVIDIA’s A100 chips in terms of GPU performance and computing power efficiency.
While ByteDance has not confirmed the news, the move is seen as part of a broader trend of Chinese companies transitioning away from Western products and towards domestic alternatives. The shift is driven by China’s desire to reduce its dependence on foreign technology and develop its own indigenous capabilities.
The development of ByteDance’s new AI model has been impacted by the chip shortage, but the company is expected to continue pushing forward with its plans to develop its own AI capabilities. The move is likely to have significant implications for the global tech industry, as China continues to assert its dominance in the field of artificial intelligence.
