ByteDance is building its own CPUs on Arm and RISC-V to feed its AI infrastructure

The TikTok parent is developing custom data-centre processors on two parallel architectures as Intel and AMD push prices up 10-35% a quarter and US export controls bite.

ByteDance is developing its own central processing units to power the data centres behind its expanding AI infrastructure, according to a Reuters report on Thursday citing people familiar with the company’s chip programme.

The TikTok parent is pursuing two parallel design tracks, one based on Arm and another on the open-source RISC-V instruction-set architecture, while it works out which design best fits its longer-term needs.

The decision lands inside an unusually busy week for the company’s chip-diversification strategy.

The drivers are commercial and geopolitical at once. Intel and AMD, which currently supply most of ByteDance’s server-CPU footprint, have raised data-centre-grade processor prices by between 10% and 35% in successive recent quarters, according to the Reuters reporting.