TikTok owner ByteDance to reportedly purchase $14 billion worth of Nvidia AI GPUs in 2026 — Company betting on Beijing’s approval following Trump admin’s ease on AI export controls

Chinese tech firm ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is reportedly planning to spend 100 billion yuan on Nvidia’s H200 AI GPUs in 2026, which translates to around $14 billion USD. This planned purchase is set to add to the growing stockpile of Nvidia GPUs the company already owns.

Despite numerous setbacks, ByteDance spent 85 billion yuan on Nvidia chips throughout 2025, marking a significant increase for next year, South China Morning Post reports. ByteDance is one of the biggest local tech players in the region, rivaling Tencent when it comes to AI operations. It was recently evaluated at a market cap of $500 billion, so this spending is part of its massive AI budget for 2026.

China is barred from receiving Nvidia’s current-gen Blackwell products, but the Trump administration recently allowed the Hopper-based H200 GPUs to be sold to Beijing. Following this, the Chinese government even held meetings with its tech companies, including ByteDance, to carefully assess their inventory demands to permit these transactions.

The situation is complex, as China itself doesn’t allow foreign silicon in its data centers, and the country is pushing to achieve technological self-reliance. Companies across the board are gunning to replace Western solutions with homegrown substitutes. ByteDance is part of that race, developing two custom AI GPUs with Broadcom and TSMC, which are believed to debut in 2026.