TikTok father or mother firm ByteDance has large plans to purchase Nvidia chips in 2025 — regardless of U.S. restrictions.
ByteDance plans to spend $7 billion on the chips in 2025, based on reporting from The Information, citing inside sources. If ByteDance follows via, it is going to turn into one of many world’s prime homeowners of Nvidia chips, regardless of U.S. efforts to limit Chinese firms from shopping for U.S. AI chips like these.
In 2022, the U.S. introduced export restrictions on sure sorts of AI chips to international locations together with China the place ByteDance is headquartered. These restrictions have gotten tighter a number of occasions since.
ByteDance is technically adhering to those restrictions through the use of a loophole: The firm isn’t bringing the chips on to China and is as a substitute storing them in information facilities positioned in different areas like Southeast Asia, based on The Information’s reporting. This doesn’t technically violate U.S. restrictions.
ByteDance runs Doubao, China’s “hottest” AI chatbot with 51 million lively customers, based on the South China Morning Post.
TechCrunch reached out to ByteDance for extra info.
