ByteDance, the Chinese corporation behind TikTok, is securing access to advanced artificial intelligence technology by partnering with a Southeast Asian cloud computing company, according to a Wall Street Journal report released Thursday.
The social media giant is collaborating with Malaysia-based Aolani Cloud to install approximately 500 Nvidia Blackwell computing systems, which would include around 36,000 B200 processors, sources with knowledge of the arrangement told the Wall Street Journal.
According to the report, Aolani obtains these server systems from Aivres, a company that builds servers incorporating Nvidia’s chip technology. If the partnership moves forward as planned, the computing equipment could carry a price tag exceeding $2.5 billion.
A spokesperson for Aolani informed the Wall Street Journal that the company currently operates with approximately $100 million worth of hardware equipment.
The computing infrastructure will support ByteDance’s artificial intelligence research initiatives outside China while helping the company respond to increasing worldwide customer demand for AI services, the report indicated.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm these details. Representatives from Nvidia, ByteDance, and Aolani Cloud did not provide immediate responses to Reuters’ requests for comment.
In February, Reuters reported that United States officials were prepared to permit ByteDance to purchase Nvidia’s H200 processors, though the semiconductor manufacturer had not accepted the proposed terms for their usage, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
