ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has successfully attracted top AI talent from Alibaba and startups like 01.ai and Zhipu. Alongside this, it has expanded its teams working on large language models and AI products, positioning itself as a leader in China’s AI market. The company’s billions in investments toward AI infrastructure include acquiring advanced Nvidia AI accelerators to develop cutting-edge large language models. These efforts have solidified its standing, despite challenges such as TikTok’s slowing growth and U.S. regulatory pressures requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok by January or face a ban in the country.
Progress Amid Restrictions
ByteDance’s collaboration with Nvidia has enabled significant advancements in AI despite U.S. export restrictions limiting the company’s access to high-end GPUs for its Chinese data centers. While restricted to H20 accelerators within China, ByteDance has acquired advanced H100 accelerators for international use, becoming Nvidia’s largest customer in Asia. These resources powered the creation of Doubao, China’s most popular AI chatbot, launched publicly in August last year. Doubao, with 60 million monthly users as of November, integrates various AI capabilities like search, translation, and media generation. A global version, Cici AI, utilizes third-party large language models.
Looking Ahead: AI Chips and AGI Goals
ByteDance’s founder, Zhang Yiming, remains closely involved in the company’s AI strategy despite stepping down as CEO in 2021. Zhang personally oversees hiring from competitors and aims to develop Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) to match human problem-solving capabilities. Insiders reveal ByteDance has also launched a division to develop proprietary AI chips, including ASICs designed for machine learning, adds NIX Solutions. This initiative follows the recruitment of skilled developers from Chinese semiconductor firms.
Zhang’s vision emphasizes long-term growth beyond TikTok and Douyin. “He always thinks about what will happen in the next five years, what can expand the company’s business in the future,” said a well-informed source. ByteDance’s ongoing investments and innovations signal its commitment to shaping the future of AI. We’ll keep you updated on these developments as they unfold.