ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, is moving to build its own artificial intelligence chips. Sources say the tech giant is currently talking to Samsung Electronics about manufacturing these new processors. This move would help ByteDance secure the hardware it needs to keep up with the global AI boom without relying entirely on outside suppliers.
The project, which carries the codename “SeedChip,” aims to produce at least 100,000 units this year. Some sources suggest production could eventually ramp up to 350,000 chips. ByteDance wants to see the first samples by the end of March. These chips will likely handle “inference,” which is the part of AI that processes requests and gives answers to users.
Partnering with Samsung is a strategic choice. Right now, the world faces a massive shortage of the high-speed memory chips essential for AI. By working with Samsung, ByteDance could get a guaranteed supply of both the processors and the memory they require.
While a ByteDance spokesperson called the reports “inaccurate,” the company has been hiring chip engineers since 2022. ByteDance isn’t the only firm trying to build its own hardware. Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are all designing custom chips to stop depending so much on Nvidia. For Chinese firms, there is also the added pressure of U.S. trade rules that limit what they can buy from American companies.
ByteDance is ready to spend big to win this race. The company plans to drop about $22 billion on AI equipment this year. While about half of that money will still go toward buying chips from Nvidia, the other half will fund its own internal hardware projects.
During a recent meeting, ByteDance executive Zhao Qi admitted that the company still trails behind leaders like OpenAI. however, he promised employees that ByteDance will continue to pour resources into AI development to transform its video, shopping, and cloud businesses. If “SeedChip” succeeds, it could give the TikTok parent a huge advantage over its rivals.
