ByteDance nears MediaTek chip deal built on Nvidia infrastructure

ByteDance is close to an agreement to buy custom AI accelerators from Taiwan’s MediaTek for its data centers. The proposed deal would use Nvidia’s NVLink Fusion interconnect, allowing MediaTek-designed chips to connect to Nvidia’s rack-scale systems. Nvidia invested $3.5 billion in MediaTek bonds in exchange for the chipmaker adopting that platform as the foundation for its custom AI accelerators. The agreement remains unfinalized, and purchase volumes have not been disclosed.

The arrangement would reduce ByteDance’s dependence on Nvidia GPUs without removing its reliance on Nvidia infrastructure. NVLink Fusion offers faster communication between chips and could shorten deployment by avoiding the need to develop a separate interconnect. Switching those accelerators to AMD or Intel rack infrastructure, however, would require redesigning the interconnect layer. US export controls restrict ByteDance’s access to advanced Nvidia chips for use inside China.

ByteDance is weighing capital expenditure of as much as $70 billion in 2026 as it expands computing capacity for its Doubao assistant. Its broader supply strategy includes Qualcomm ASICs, domestic Chinese GPU suppliers and access to Nvidia hardware through overseas cloud partners. Winning ByteDance would strengthen MediaTek’s expansion beyond smartphone chips into custom data-center silicon, building on its work with Google’s TPU program.