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China’s ByteDance is accelerating its push into artificial intelligence hardware, reportedly developing its own AI chip while holding discussions with Samsung Electronics for manufacturing support. The TikTok parent company aims to secure a stable supply of advanced processors as global demand for AI infrastructure continues to surge.
Sources familiar with the matter say ByteDance expects to receive sample chips by the end of March. The company plans to manufacture at least 100,000 AI inference chips this year, with production potentially scaling to 350,000 units as demand grows. The project, internally codenamed “SeedChip,” is designed to power AI inference tasks that support ByteDance’s expanding ecosystem, including short video platforms, e-commerce services, and enterprise cloud offerings.
Negotiations with Samsung reportedly include access to high-demand memory chips, which are currently in short supply due to the rapid expansion of AI data centers worldwide. Securing both manufacturing capacity and memory supply would strengthen ByteDance’s position in the competitive AI semiconductor market. However, a ByteDance spokesperson has denied details regarding the in-house chip project, while Samsung has declined to comment.
ByteDance’s AI chip ambitions date back to at least 2022, when the company began aggressively hiring semiconductor talent. In 2024, Reuters reported that ByteDance was collaborating with U.S.-based Broadcom on an advanced AI processor, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) expected to handle production.
Like global tech giants such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, ByteDance is seeking to reduce reliance on Nvidia, the dominant supplier of AI chips. U.S. export restrictions on advanced semiconductors have also intensified Chinese tech companies’ efforts to develop domestic AI chips.
The company plans to invest more than 160 billion yuan ($22 billion) in AI-related procurement this year, allocating significant funds to Nvidia H200 chips and its internal AI semiconductor initiatives. Executives have emphasized that increased AI investment will support products like the Doubao chatbot and its international counterpart, Dola, as ByteDance strengthens its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
