ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has recently been the focus of speculation regarding its development of two artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Reports emerged suggesting that the company is collaborating with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to begin mass production of these in-house chips by 2026.
In response to these claims, a ByteDance spokesperson stated that the reports are inaccurate. While the company is indeed exploring opportunities in the chip sector, these initiatives are still in the early stages. The focus of this exploration is primarily on cost optimization for its recommendation and advertising services, and all projects are conducted in compliance with relevant trade regulations.
According to previous reports, the two AI chips under development are designed for distinct functions: one for model training and the other for inference processes. The training chip is specifically aimed at accelerating the computation of vast amounts of data necessary for building AI models. Conversely, the inference chip is intended to enhance the speed of predictions and decision-making based on existing models. It has also been reported that ByteDance has placed orders for hundreds of thousands of these chips with TSMC, potentially saving the company billions of dollars in costs through the acquisition of these self-developed chips.