Qualcomm gets ready to build AI chips for TikTok maker ByteDance
Qualcomm has reportedly bagged a big deal to supply AI chips to ByteDance, the creator of TikTok. This comes at a time when the US has previously restricted the sales of advanced chips to Chinese companies.
US-based chipmaker Qualcomm is making a move into AI infrastructure. The company has reportedly signed a deal with ByteDance, the owner of popular social media platform TikTok, to supply millions of chips that will power the Chinese giant’s AI agent software.
As per a report from Bloomberg, ByteDance is one of the first customers for Qualcomm’s application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs. This move comes at a time when the US-based chipmaker is trying to expand beyond smartphone processors.
This agreement is expected to help ByteDance turn an in-house chip design into a semiconductor ready for production, as per the report. Qualcomm’s stock price also saw a gain of as much as 8.3 per cent.
India Today Tech has reached out to Qualcomm for a comment.
Keep in mind that there have been tensions between the US and China in the past over advanced chips. The Trump administration has previously laid down strict restrictions on the export of advanced Nvidia AI chips to China. Before these restrictions, Nvidia held about 95 per cent of China’s advanced chip market, as per reports.
Qualcomm to gain on AI boom?
As per the report, Qualcomm has been trying to increase its presence in the AI chip market for some time now. The AI chip space is largely dominated by Nvidia. Though companies like Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom and Google are also making progress.
Qualcomm’s deal with ByteDance comes at a time when some companies are looking for alternatives to Nvidia’s expensive chips as the use of AI tools grows across industries. Though Google and Meta are believed to be doubling down on custom chips to reduce dependence on suppliers.
In April, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon stated that the company was engaging with a number of customers for three types of chips – central processing units, accelerators for inference, and custom chips known as ASICs. He did not name potential customers at the time.
What about trade restrictions?
This deal may raise some eyebrows over the trade tensions between the US and China, particularly for advanced chips as stated earlier. As per the report, Qualcomm makes chips through partners such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). As long as the chips stay within legally acceptable computing thresholds, the report claims, those partners would not breach existing US restrictions on producing AI chips for Chinese companies.
ByteDance has also been increasing its spending on AI. According to reports, the company raised its AI infrastructure budget by 25 per cent to 200 billion yuan (roughly $29.4 billion). ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 AI video generation model has previously sent shockwaves across the film industry, with some saying that AI may change the film industry entirely. The company’s Doubao software, described as similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, was China’s most-downloaded AI chatbot for most of last year too.
US-based chipmaker Qualcomm is making a move into AI infrastructure. The company has reportedly signed a deal with ByteDance, the owner of popular social media platform TikTok, to supply millions of chips that will power the Chinese giant’s AI agent software.
As per a report from Bloomberg, ByteDance is one of the first customers for Qualcomm’s application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs. This move comes at a time when the US-based chipmaker is trying to expand beyond smartphone processors.
This agreement is expected to help ByteDance turn an in-house chip design into a semiconductor ready for production, as per the report. Qualcomm’s stock price also saw a gain of as much as 8.3 per cent.
India Today Tech has reached out to Qualcomm for a comment.
Keep in mind that there have been tensions between the US and China in the past over advanced chips. The Trump administration has previously laid down strict restrictions on the export of advanced Nvidia AI chips to China. Before these restrictions, Nvidia held about 95 per cent of China’s advanced chip market, as per reports.
Qualcomm to gain on AI boom?
As per the report, Qualcomm has been trying to increase its presence in the AI chip market for some time now. The AI chip space is largely dominated by Nvidia. Though companies like Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom and Google are also making progress.
Qualcomm’s deal with ByteDance comes at a time when some companies are looking for alternatives to Nvidia’s expensive chips as the use of AI tools grows across industries. Though Google and Meta are believed to be doubling down on custom chips to reduce dependence on suppliers.
In April, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon stated that the company was engaging with a number of customers for three types of chips – central processing units, accelerators for inference, and custom chips known as ASICs. He did not name potential customers at the time.
What about trade restrictions?
This deal may raise some eyebrows over the trade tensions between the US and China, particularly for advanced chips as stated earlier. As per the report, Qualcomm makes chips through partners such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). As long as the chips stay within legally acceptable computing thresholds, the report claims, those partners would not breach existing US restrictions on producing AI chips for Chinese companies.
ByteDance has also been increasing its spending on AI. According to reports, the company raised its AI infrastructure budget by 25 per cent to 200 billion yuan (roughly $29.4 billion). ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 AI video generation model has previously sent shockwaves across the film industry, with some saying that AI may change the film industry entirely. The company’s Doubao software, described as similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, was China’s most-downloaded AI chatbot for most of last year too.
