ByteDance is in talks with Shanghai-based Iluvatar CoreX to purchase AI inference GPUs, and is also considering a deal to buy Baidu's Kunlunxin chips

ByteDance is shopping for AI silicon on home turf. The Chinese tech giant is actively negotiating with Shanghai-based Iluvatar CoreX (9903.HK) to snag AI inference GPUs, according to sources cited by Reuters.

That's not the only deal brewing. ByteDance is also considering purchasing chips from Kunlunxin, Baidu's semiconductor arm. The focus here is inference — the computationally heavy process of running trained AI models in production.

The move signals ByteDance's appetite for dedicated AI hardware is growing fast. By pursuing multiple Chinese chipmakers simultaneously, the company is clearly looking to secure a reliable pipeline of inference compute.

Neither deal has been finalized. But if ByteDance locks in agreements with both Iluvatar CoreX and Kunlunxin, it would represent a significant boost for China's domestic AI chip ecosystem.