TikTok mum or dad firm ByteDance has massive plans to purchase Nvidia chips in 2025 — regardless of U.S. restrictions.
ByteDance plans to spend $7 billion on the chips in 2025, in response to reporting from The Information, citing inside sources. If ByteDance follows via, it would develop into one of many world’s prime house owners 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 instances since.
ByteDance is technically adhering to those restrictions by utilizing a loophole: The firm isn’t bringing the chips on to China and is as an alternative storing them in knowledge facilities positioned in different areas like Southeast Asia, in response to 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, in response to the South China Morning Post.
TechCrunch reached out to ByteDance for extra info.
