The TikTok U.S. minority owner plans to produce 100,000 of those chips this year as China races to cut reliance on U.S. chipmakers.
- ByteDance is partnering with Samsung to produce its own AI chips; the project is code-named SeedChip, according to Reuters.
- As Chinese tech companies scale homegrown AI chips, Nvidia would face a greater challenge in reviving its China business.
- Nvidia continues to face uncertainty over H200 sales to Chinese customers, a key overhang.
Chinese tech giant ByteDance is developing an artificial intelligence chip and is in talks with Samsung Electronics to manufacture it, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
ByteDance — which holds a minority stake in TikTok after its U.S. sale — aims to receive sample chips by the end of March. It plans to produce 100,000 of those this year and eventually ramp up annual production to up to 350,000 units, according to the report.
Chinese companies are ramping up efforts to develop advanced chips indigenously, in response to U.S. restrictions on the sale of high-end semiconductors from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices to Chinese customers.
Drag On Nvidia’s China Business
If its plans come to fruition, it would mark a milestone for ByteDance, which has reportedly been working on the effort since 2022, and a new headache for Nvidia.
The U.S. chip heavyweight has seen its China business crater amid shifting policies governing its chip sales in the country, an issue both Washington and Beijing have leveraged in diplomatic and trade negotiations.
Nvidia, which is still awaiting approval to resume H200 sales, could face greater challenges rebuilding its China business if domestic tech giants succeed in developing their own advanced chips.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for NVDA has remained ‘bearish’ over the last two days. Nvidia shares are up 1% so far in 2026, compared to the 1.4% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index.
AI Chip Efforts
Earlier reports from Reuters noted that ByteDance began hiring chip-related staff in 2022 and, in 2024, engaged U.S. chipmaker Broadcom to design chips that would ultimately be manufactured by TSMC.
While ByteDance has yet to debut its own chip, rivals Alibaba and Baidu are further ahead in AI silicon. Alibaba unveiled its Zhenwu chip last month, aimed at large-scale AI workloads, while Baidu already markets chips to external customers and is preparing to spin off and list its chip unit, Kunlunxin.
ByteDance’s chip project is code-named SeedChip, according to Reuters.
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