According to a recent Reuters report, Broadcom, the manufacturer of Raspberry Pi chips, is collaborating with ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to develop advanced AI chips. Both parties have declined to comment on this development.
According to reports, ByteDance is said to be forming a partnership in order to obtain a set of 5-nanometer AI chips, which will subsequently be integrated into the various social media platforms operated by the company.
For example, this could aid in the development of the TikTok algorithm or, as noted by Reuters, power Doubao, its competitor in the ChatGPT market.
The chips are scheduled to be manufactured by TSMC, as the report notes that they are not planning to produce them until next year.
Despite its reputation for its involvement with Raspberry Pi, Broadcom, a US-based company, also produces a wide range of hardware independently from the British company. However, collaborating with a Chinese company such as ByteDance can be a risky endeavor in the current climate.
Despite the impending ban of TikTok, the two companies will also have to navigate through US sanctions targeting a specific type of hardware.
These sanctions were put in place to restrict China’s access to influential components in order to support its advancements in artificial intelligence. This entails adhering to the restrictions imposed by the Biden administration.
Despite being a leading player in the market, Nvidia has faced significant repercussions in China, as its A and H-series AI chips have been banned from sales in the country. Furthermore, the company’s top-of-the-line gaming card, the RTX 4090, has also been impacted by these restrictions.
Team Green was forced to develop the 4090D in order to circumvent sanctions, resulting in the removal of certain capabilities.
According to the report, ByteDance reportedly spent $2 billion last year to acquire Nvidia hardware. In addition to stockpiling Nvidia hardware, Reuters reports that ByteDance also purchased Huawei’s competing AI chip.
Despite facing US sanctions, China’s hardware manufacturers continue to demonstrate their ability to thrive without reliance on America.
Despite not being on par with Western chips, Huawei asserts that its competitor chip has achieved 80% of the same performance and can even outperform Nvidia by 20% in specific scenarios.
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