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ByteDance appears to be skirting US restrictions to buy Nvidia chips: report
TikTok parent company ByteDance has big plans to acquire Nvidia chips in 2025, despite U.S. restrictions on the sale of such technology to Chinese companies. According to a report by The Information, citing insider sources, ByteDance intends to spend $7 billion on the chips next year.
The move would put ByteDance among the world’s top owners of Nvidia chips, defying U.S. efforts to restrict the sale of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to Chinese entities. In 2022, the United States introduced export restrictions on certain types of AI chips to countries including China, where ByteDance is headquartered.
However, The Information suggests that ByteDance is exploiting a loophole in these regulations by storing the Nvidia chips in data centers located outside of China, rather than importing them directly into the country. This approach would technically comply with U.S. restrictions, allowing ByteDance to circumvent the limitations.
ByteDance operates Doubao, China’s most popular AI-powered chatbot, which boasts an impressive 51 million active users, according to the South China Morning Post. TechCrunch has reached out to ByteDance for additional information on this matter.
It remains to be seen whether this reported move will have any significant impact on the global tech landscape or spark a new wave of scrutiny and backlash from U.S. regulators.
Source: techcrunch.com
