ByteDance has entered discussions with Samsung Electronics to produce its custom AI inference chips, marking its first major step toward in-house semiconductor capabilities. The agreement covers both wafer fabrication and assembly, leveraging Samsung’s advanced foundry services for a 5-nanometer application-specific integrated circuit design.

Under the proposed deal, ByteDance expects to receive initial chip samples by the end of March 2026 and manufacture 100,000 units over the year, with a gradual scale-up target of 350,000 units. The talks also include securing high-bandwidth memory supplies to ensure full system integration amid tight global availability.

This move intensifies competition with Alibaba, which recently launched its Zhenwu 810E AI chip, and follows Baidu’s Kunlun roadmap. ByteDance’s ramp-up underscores a broader push among Chinese tech giants to reduce reliance on foreign AI chip suppliers and capture market share in cloud and edge AI workloads.