Chinese company ByteDance is now using NVIDIA’s AI chips to create its own computing power, as per a Reuters report on Thursday.
The update comes after NVIDIA was given approval by the U.S. Department of Commerce last year to export its H200 chips to China, in line with certain conditions. China has previously considered limiting the use of NVIDIA’s chips.
NVIDIA’s chips are considered the cream of the crop in the industry, allowing NVIDIA to charge premium prices for its products. Since 2022, NVIDIA’s data center segment is responsible for the majority of its revenues.
Under government approval, NVIDIA and AMD can supply export versions of their chips—such as the H200 and the AMD Instinct—to China, the world’s second-largest economy, which also has a huge presence in the emerging sector, possessing an ample supply of semiconductor material to power its industry.
A Wall Street Journal report said that ByteDance will be using NVIDIA chips to create 500 NVIDIA Blackwell systems in collaboration with Aolani Cloud. The buildout is expected to cost more than $2.5 billion and will comprise 36,000 B200 chips.
ByteDance will be using the computing power from these systems to conduct AI research & development outside of China, where regulators control key industries such as semiconductors, manufacturing, EVs, and tech with a strict framework.
Founded in 2012, ByteDance is the parent company of social media platform TikTok. It is headquartered in Beijing.