(Singapore, 7th) Chip designers at ByteDance, the Chinese internet company and parent of TikTok, unexpectedly discovered last week that they had become part of a group subsidiary in Singapore.
Reuters reported on Friday (September 5) that three sources familiar with the matter revealed this information. Many of these chip designers work in Beijing or Shanghai.
Two of the sources said that these employees discovered the change when they were added to a new group chat on the company’s internal communications platform.
Having chip designers report to the Singapore subsidiary could help ByteDance navigate US-China tensions as it seeks access to advanced semiconductor technologies.
Since the end of 2023, US regulations have banned mainland Chinese companies from using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) — the world’s largest chip foundry — to produce advanced AI chips above certain performance thresholds.
The unnamed sources did not disclose the name of the Singapore subsidiary.
Reuters was unable to learn how many of ByteDance’s chip designers are now under the Singapore subsidiary.
Outside China, ByteDance is best known as the owner of TikTok. The company did not respond to requests for comment.
ByteDance is among many global tech companies ramping up the development of proprietary chips or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to reduce reliance on suppliers like Nvidia.
ByteDance has not yet outsourced chip production to TSMC, but sources last year said the company was collaborating with US chip designer Broadcom to develop an advanced AI processor, which would be produced by TSMC.
According to business registration records, ByteDance owns a Singapore-registered company named Picoheart. Picoheart was founded in December 2023 and last year acquired a 9.5% stake in Chinese storage chip maker Innostar, attracting attention.
ByteDance also operates large data centers in Singapore, with TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi based there.
ByteDance began actively recruiting chip-related personnel in 2022. However, compared to competitors like Alibaba and Baidu, ByteDance has produced fewer chips so far.
Two sources said that ByteDance’s currently released chips can only handle inference tasks, which are less computationally intensive than training workloads.
They added that ByteDance’s chip development portfolio includes video decoding and networking chips, and the company has a dedicated team focused on AI applications.
Recent ByteDance job postings show six positions requiring chip expertise, with one to join the AI chip team.
Reuters reported on Friday (September 5) that three sources familiar with the matter revealed this information. Many of these chip designers work in Beijing or Shanghai.
Two of the sources said that these employees discovered the change when they were added to a new group chat on the company’s internal communications platform.
Having chip designers report to the Singapore subsidiary could help ByteDance navigate US-China tensions as it seeks access to advanced semiconductor technologies.
Since the end of 2023, US regulations have banned mainland Chinese companies from using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) — the world’s largest chip foundry — to produce advanced AI chips above certain performance thresholds.
The unnamed sources did not disclose the name of the Singapore subsidiary.
Reuters was unable to learn how many of ByteDance’s chip designers are now under the Singapore subsidiary.
Outside China, ByteDance is best known as the owner of TikTok. The company did not respond to requests for comment.
ByteDance is among many global tech companies ramping up the development of proprietary chips or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to reduce reliance on suppliers like Nvidia.
ByteDance has not yet outsourced chip production to TSMC, but sources last year said the company was collaborating with US chip designer Broadcom to develop an advanced AI processor, which would be produced by TSMC.
According to business registration records, ByteDance owns a Singapore-registered company named Picoheart. Picoheart was founded in December 2023 and last year acquired a 9.5% stake in Chinese storage chip maker Innostar, attracting attention.
ByteDance also operates large data centers in Singapore, with TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi based there.
ByteDance began actively recruiting chip-related personnel in 2022. However, compared to competitors like Alibaba and Baidu, ByteDance has produced fewer chips so far.
Two sources said that ByteDance’s currently released chips can only handle inference tasks, which are less computationally intensive than training workloads.
They added that ByteDance’s chip development portfolio includes video decoding and networking chips, and the company has a dedicated team focused on AI applications.
Recent ByteDance job postings show six positions requiring chip expertise, with one to join the AI chip team.