ByteDance’s investment strategy may face challenges due to expanded US export controls targeting Chinese technology companies. Credit: Robert Way/Shutterstock.

ByteDance is set to invest more than 87.2bn yuan ($12bn) in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in 2025, aiming to leverage cutting-edge technology for growth, reported the Financial Times.  

The development comes as the Beijing-based company faces pressure from the US government to sell its social media app TikTok.  

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ByteDance has earmarked $5.5bn for AI chips in China, doubling its previous year’s expenditure.  

Additionally, the company plans to invest $6.8bn overseas to enhance its model training capabilities with advanced NVIDIA chips. 

Approximately 60% of ByteDance’s domestic semiconductor orders will be allocated to Chinese suppliers such as Huawei and Cambricon, with the remainder spent on NVIDIA chips modified to comply with US export controls, the sources told the publication.  

Beijing has advised Chinese technology firms to source at least 30% of their chips domestically.  

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The overseas investment aims to expand ByteDance’s AI computing capacity for model training. 

ByteDance’s investment strategy may face challenges due to expanded US export controls targeting Chinese technology companies.  

TikTok recently restored service to 170 million US users after the newly elected President Donald Trump stated that companies hosting the app would not face liability unless TikTok was sold.  

Trump signed an executive order to keep TikTok open for 75 days, seeking 50% US ownership. 

ByteDance’s plans for a future initial public offering (IPO) could be impacted by any transaction, with the company valuing itself at $300bn in a recent share buyback.  

ByteDance refuted the Financial Times’ report, stating: “The anonymously sourced information about our plan is incorrect.” 

ByteDance is also facing competition from local giants including Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, which are investing in generative AI.  

These companies are developing more advanced models and reducing costs for developers.  

Chinese companies must also enhance AI data centre capacity to support AI applications post-training. 

ByteDance intends to utilise most Chinese AI chips, including Huawei’s Ascend and Cambricon, for “inference” tasks.  

The company launched its AI chatbot, Doubao, in August 2023, which is said to have become China’s leading AI application with 71 million monthly active users as of December 2024.