ByteDance is developing its own artificial intelligence chip and is already negotiating with Samsung Electronics to manufacture it. It is at least what they point out two sources close to the project, which would make the Chinese company an even fiercer competitor in the segment that wants to revolutionize our world.
TikTok doesn’t matter anymore (that much). TikTok has turned ByteDance into an empire within the social media segment, but the Chinese company has not stopped there. In fact, it has completely immersed itself in the world of generative AI and already has truly exceptional models like Doubao (GPT-5 or Gemini competitor) or Seedream. The only thing it was missing is its own AI chip, but pay attention, because that may have a solution in the short term.
what has happened. Sources close to the company’s plans have indicated that ByteDance is working on the design and development of its own new AI chip, which they have named Seedchip, in line with its Seedream generative image and video AI models. Said chip could be manufactured by Samsung Electronics, with which the Chinese company is holding talks. A spokesperson for ByteDance assures that these plans for its own chip are imprecise, but it does not detail why.
They go at full speed. The project appears to be moving forward at high speed and ByteDance aims to receive the first samples of that chip by the end of March. The company intends to manufacture at least 100,000 units of the chip, which would also be especially focused on the inference of its AI models and not on training. One of the sources consulted indicates that ByteDance hopes to later increase production to 350,000 units, but the time frame for that objective is not specified.
Inference is increasingly important. Focusing on inference chips makes a lot of economic sense. Training models like Doubao requires the brute force of NVIDIA chips and that part is well covered. However, making its AI work for millions of simultaneous users is one area where ByteDance can save billions by having its own chip optimized for its code.
Why partner with Samsung. Taking into account that China tries to avoid dependencies on foreign companies, this alliance with Samsung is striking. However, there may be a compelling reason for making that decision: negotiations with Samsung apparently include access to the supply of memory chips that are currently practically out of stock. And above all, to some very special chips: the HBM.
A delicate alliance. The clear alternative to this association with Samsung would be to manufacture, for example with SMIC or even opt for Huawei, which is becoming the “Chinese NVIDIA” and it already has truly remarkable AI chips. Choosing Samsung seems to send a compromising message: that Chinese-made technology continues to lag behind that of manufacturers like Samsung.
ByteDance already tried it. In June 2024, data already appeared suggesting that ByteDance had allied with Broadcom to develop an advanced AI chip. At that time, the partner chosen to manufacture these chips was TSMC, but it seems that this project has ended up fading.
Everyone wants to have their own chip. ByteDance’s ambition follows the general market trend: almost all major technology companies have decided to create their own advanced AI chips. Google has your TPUsMicrosoft their Maiaand Amazon their Trainium to reduce your dependence on NVIDIA. And of course ByteDance’s main Chinese rivals, Alibaba (with his Zhenwu) and Baidu —which has its Kunlunxin division working on it—they have their own designs.
But they continue to bet on NVIDIA. This effort aims to transform its short video businesses and cloud infrastructure services, but even if confirmed and successful, it will take time to make it a true reference. ByteDance plans to invest $22 billion in the AI space, with the majority of that budget going toward purchasing NVIDA chips including the H200.
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