More Chinese giants are losing patience with the US: TikTok is preparing its own AI chips, according to The Information

They say that every important decision usually comes with side effects. An example of this scenario can be found in the chip war between the United States and China. Washington has been trying for some time to limit the development of this sector by the Asian giant for reasons of national securityAuthorities believe that if this rival country gains access to cutting-edge technology such as the latest NVIDIA chips or ASML’s extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, it can use them to boost military projects.

It’s no secret that everything from missiles to AI computers in China’s military needs semiconductors. But the feud seems to be strengthening the independence of companies within the borders of Xi Jinping’s country. ByteDance, the group behind TikTok, is working to design its own chips, According to The InformationAnd we’re not talking about just any tech player, this is one that recently spent more than $1 billion on NVIDIA chips.

ByteDance wants its own AI chips

As many of you already know, NVIDIA is prohibited from shipping its most advanced graphics cards to China due to current trade restrictions by the Department of Commerce. Those led by Jensen Huang have created alternative versions which can be exported, like the ones ByteDance has bought. But in the past we have seen the United States move to block the sale of these alternative products as well. The NVIDIA H800 was an allowed alternative to the H100, which was also eventually banned.

Amid this scenario, ByteDance is accelerating its plans to develop its own high-performance chips for artificial intelligence (AI). The Information notes that it has already designed two products together with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) that it plans to begin mass producing in 2026. This is a very interesting move that, if it materializes, could reduce the dependence of TikTok’s parent company on NVIDIA chips, access to which is increasingly limited by trade restrictions.

There are still many questions to be answered, such as what features these chips will have and whether the international influence of the United States will end up harming these plans in any way. It should be noted that this is not the first time that information has appeared about the Chinese company’s plans to develop their own chips. A little over three months ago Reuters noted that ByteDance was working with Broadcom to design a 5nm chip in compliance with US restrictions, with TSMC as a project partner.

Images | SmartBolivia

At Xataka | China breathes a sigh of relief: chip designer Loongson is preparing a brutal 64-core CPU