ByteDance to develop AI Model using Huawei chips

The parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, reportedly plans to develop an AI model trained primarily with chips from compatriot Huawei Technologies.

This shift comes as U.S. restrictions push the social media giant to seek domestic chip suppliers.

Since the U.S. began imposing restrictions on the export of advanced AI chips, particularly from market leader Nvidia, ByteDance has turned to domestic chip suppliers and has ramped up the development of its own AI chips.

ByteDance’s next step in the AI race is to use Huawei’s Ascend 910B chip to train a large-language AI model, said the people, declining to be identified as the plan is confidential. 

Another source also informed that the company is planning a new AI model but unable to say whether it will use Huawei chips.

ByteDance already uses the Ascend 910B primarily for less computationally intensive inference tasks, which involve pre-trained AI models making predictions, the three people and a separate source said.

Training AI models is far more demanding and requires huge amounts of data, necessitating the use of ultra-high-performance chips such as Nvidia’s premium graphics processing units.

According to a source, the new model's capabilities and complexity, as measured by its computing parameters, will be less powerful than ByteDance's current AI model, Doubao.

“The entire premise here is wrong. No new model is being developed,” said ByteDance spokesman Michael Hughes.

ByteDance has placed an order for over 100,000 Ascend 910B chips this year but has received fewer than 30,000 by July, which is insufficient to meet the company’s demands, according to one source.

The limited supply and reduced computing power compared to Nvidia’s chips available in China have hindered ByteDance from establishing a timeline for the new model, as noted by two sources.

The increased focus on AI has positioned ByteDance as one of the largest purchasers of Huawei’s AI chips, according to three sources.

It is also the biggest buyer of Nvidia’s H20 AI chip, which the company developed specifically for the Chinese market in light of trade restrictions, according to two sources.

Additionally, ByteDance is Microsoft’s largest client in Asia for Nvidia chips available through cloud computing, as reported by two other sources.