For the uninitiated, TikTok is owned by ByteDance and according to Reuters, the company is planning a new AI model that is trained with Huawei chips. Dubbed the Ascend 910B chip, it will be training a large-language AI model to employ better pattern recognition to make decisions.
As it is a confidential project, sources who are familiar with it told Reuters that the Ascend 910B chip is better than NVIDIA's A100 chip. It is said that Huawei's chip has better GPU performance and energy efficiency. However, the chip shortage seems to have delayed the AI model development projects.
Initially, ByteDance was using NVIDIA chips for its AI project but due to the US export restrictions, it has become an issue for ByteDance to acquire them. The company was also using NVIDIA H20 AI chips to avoid the US government sanctions but with this, it has turned to Huawei for AI training development.
Sources say ByteDance has ordered 100,000 Ascend 910B chips and has received 30,000 units so far. Despite the reports, ByteDance spokesman Michael Hughes said no new model is being developed. Huawei, NVIDIA and Microsoft have also declined to comment by request.
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