ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant known for its social media platform TikTok, is now making a mark in artificial intelligence (AI) by developing a new large language model (LLM).
ByteDance plans to train this AI model using Huawei's AI chips, particularly the Ascend 910B, and this collaboration could be the beginning of a synergy in the Chinese tech industry.
The birth of this Chinese alliance comes as an effort to reduce dependence on US-based technology, particularly Nvidia’s chips since the U.S. started restricting exports of advanced AI chips in 2022 to China.
The Role of Huawei’s Ascend Chips
The purpose of Huawei's Ascend chips is to serve as a domestic alternative to Nvidia’s high-performance Graphics Processing Units (GPUs).
The Ascend 910B which is already being used for inference tasks (pre-trained AI models making predictions), is being adopted by ByteDance for more computationally intensive tasks like training LLMs.
Huawei’s Ascend chips are a great alternative since they offer competitive performance, with the previous iteration, the 910B, reportedly matching Nvidia's A100 GPUs.
However, despite the promising technology, ByteDance has faced supply constraints having received only 30,000 out of the 100,000 chips it ordered from Huawei in 2023.
US Export Restrictions
ByteDance’s decision to partner with Huawei came as a result of tightening US export restrictions on Nvidia's most advanced AI chips, such as the H100 and A100 GPUs, which have traditionally been very important for training AI models.
In response to the US government's restrictions on exporting these chips to China, Chinese companies like ByteDance have had to seek alternatives like Huawei, who, with its homegrown semiconductor technology, has emerged in an attempt to fill the gap.
Huawei’s strategy to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in the AI hardware market includes bundling the Ascend chips with other components, like networking and storage solutions, to create a comprehensive AI infrastructure package. The company's vision is to help China’s AI sector become less reliant on US technology.
In fact, about half of China’s top 70 LLMs were trained using Huawei’s chips last year. Also, ByteDance has designed two chips with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM) that it plans to mass produce by 2026.
Implications for the Global AI Market
ByteDance AI move has broad implications for the global AI market. By working with Huawei, ByteDance is not only bolstering its own technological infrastructure but also contributing to China’s growing AI ecosystem. This collaboration is a step further for China to reduce its dependence on foreign countries, especially the US since tension between the two global powers has been on the rise.
Closing Note
It is interesting to note that Huawei is also sampling its latest GPU for AI to customers in China.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the report says “large Chinese server companies… and internet firms” have received samples of the Ascend 910C which has been described as an upgraded Ascend 910B that may outperform Nvidia’s upcoming Blackwell-based B20 according to a prediction made by SemiAnalysis’s Dylan Patel.
In the light of all these one thing stands true: the tech industry worldwide is about to experience monumental changes.