3 min learnNew DelhiJun 15, 2026 09:26 AM IST
Chinese language know-how firm ByteDance is in talks with Shanghai-based Iluvatar CoreX to buy AI chips for inference work and can also be contemplating an analogous take care of Baidu, in response to two sources acquainted with the matter.
If a deal is agreed, Iluvatar CoreX would turn out to be ByteDance’s third main home provider of graphics processing models (GPUs) after Huawei and Cambricon, the sources added.
TikTok dad or mum ByteDance can also be contemplating utilizing Baidu’s Kunlunxin chips, they mentioned, declining to be named because the talks should not public. Tencent is already a Kunlunxin chip buyer, in response to one of many sources. ByteDance, Iluvatar CoreX, Baidu and Tencent didn’t reply to requests for remark.
The potential offers display that efforts by Chinese language chipmakers to supply alternate options to overseas AI chips are gaining traction as Beijing promotes the usage of regionally developed chips to enhance self-reliance amid U.S. export controls on superior chips.
Chinese language GPU and AI chipmakers captured practically 41% of China’s AI accelerator server market final 12 months, eroding Nvidia’s once-dominant place in certainly one of its most necessary abroad markets, Reuters reported in April.
Whereas Nvidia’s market share in China has successfully fallen to zero, in response to its CEO Jensen Huang, Chinese language AI chips would turn out to be accessible in massive portions within the second half of this 12 months, Tencent’s Chief Technique Officer James Mitchell mentioned in Could.
Iluvatar CoreX, certainly one of China’s main GPU startups, is anticipated to ship a minimum of 50,000 chips to ByteDance this 12 months and most of them might be used for inference workloads, as ByteDance expands the client base for its signature AI chatbot Doubao, the sources mentioned.
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Inference workloads contain answering queries and are completely different from AI mannequin coaching, which tends to make use of essentially the most highly effective chips. The small print of the potential offers should not remaining and nonetheless topic to vary, the sources mentioned.
Industrial milestone
A take care of ByteDance, certainly one of China’s largest know-how firms and a serious spender on AI infrastructure, can be a major industrial milestone for Iluvatar CoreX.
Till now, the Shanghai-based firm has primarily provided authorities procurement initiatives, one of the sources mentioned. Iluvatar CoreX, which listed in Hong Kong in January, reported 1 billion yuan ($148 million) in 2025 income, about 90% from promoting GPUs, as it benefited from rising demand for home AI {hardware}.
Its Tiangai sequence chips are tailor-made for AI coaching, whereas its Zhikai sequence is geared towards inference duties, in response to its web site.
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Iluvatar CoreX’s income is projected to succeed in 3.04 billion yuan ($449.8 million) this 12 months, with whole shipments anticipated to leap 139% to over 100,000 chips, in response to a Huatai Securities analysis notice. The dealer estimated the Zhikai inference chips had a mean promoting worth of 12,000 yuan, or about $1,775 every.
Iluvatar Corex shares rose 12% in Hong Kong following the Reuters report.