TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance has found a way to access NVIDIA’s latest AI chips despite export restrictions, according to a report. . The company is working with a company called Aolani Cloud to build Blackwell computing systems in Malaysia.
This should give ByteDance access to approximately 36,000 B200 chips. This is NVIDIA’s most powerful processor. The hardware upgrade will reportedly cost more than $2.5 billion. The company says it plans to use the new computing power for AI research and development outside of China.
The country does not have access to the B200 chip because it was designed in California and is subject to U.S. export controls. This now does the same thing that ByteDance is doing with Aolani Cloud. The Singapore-based company plans to buy components from NVIDIA and operate exclusively in Malaysia, giving ByteDance access in the process.
“By design, export rules allow us to build and operate clouds outside regulated countries,” an NVIDIA spokesperson said. The company also said that all of its cloud partners are reviewed before they are approved to receive products.
Aorani Cloud Representative that the Company complies with all applicable export control regulations and that ByteDance is only one of its many customers; The company plans to provide cloud computing services to multiple companies in Asia and around the world. However, it’s worth noting that Aolani currently runs on just $100 million worth of hardware, and ByteDance plans to put in a whopping $2.5 billion.
The US recently did so, but was slapped with a 25% tariff. Additionally, the U.S. government has mandated that export licenses will only be approved if NVIDIA accepts know-your-customer requirements. This is to prevent the Chinese military from accessing the chip. Nvidia.
