ByteDance, the Chinese technology giant behind TikTok and the Doubao chatbot, is in advanced talks to purchase at least 50,000 AI inference chips from Shanghai-based Iluvatar CoreX, expected to ship this year primarily for powering Doubao’s user base of hundreds of millions. The deal remains unfinalised. If completed, Iluvatar CoreX would become ByteDance’s third major domestic chip supplier, joining Huawei and Cambricon, as Beijing’s tech champions pivot from Nvidia amid tightening US export controls. ByteDance is also exploring a parallel arrangement with Baidu’s Kunlunxin division. The talks mark a breakthrough for Iluvatar CoreX, which previously served government contracts; its Zhikai inference chips average around $1,775 per unit. The company listed in Hong Kong in January, raising roughly $450 million in an IPO oversubscribed over 400 times, and reported 2025 revenue of 1 billion yuan (about $148 million), nearly 90 per cent from GPU sales, though it remains loss making. Huatai Securities projects revenue could nearly triple to 3 billion yuan this year as shipments surge past 100,000 units. Shares jumped 12 per cent in Hong Kong following the news. Chinese chipmakers captured nearly 41 per cent of the domestic AI accelerator server market last year, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acknowledging the company’s China market share has fallen to zero. ByteDance