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ByteDance Plans New AI Model Trained With Huawei Chips

The ByteDance logo is seen at the company's office in Shanghai, China, July 4, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
The ByteDance logo is seen at the company's office in Shanghai, China, July 4, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
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ByteDance Plans New AI Model Trained With Huawei Chips

The ByteDance logo is seen at the company's office in Shanghai, China, July 4, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
The ByteDance logo is seen at the company's office in Shanghai, China, July 4, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance plans to develop an AI model trained primarily with chips from compatriot Huawei Technologies, said three people familiar with the matter, as US curbs turn the social media giant homeward in search of chips.
ByteDance has diversified to domestic suppliers of chips used in artificial intelligence and accelerated development of its own since the US in 2022 started restricting exports of advanced AI chips such as from market leader Nvidia, Reuters said.
AI has become central to the technology industry with firms in sectors as varied as gaming and e-commerce differentiating offerings through the integration of custom AI models - programs that employ pattern recognition to make decisions.
ByteDance's next step in the AI race is to use Huawei's Ascend 910B chip to train a large-language AI model, said the people, declining to be identified as the plan is confidential.
A fourth person also said ByteDance is planning a new AI model but could not say whether it will use Huawei chips.
ByteDance already uses the Ascend 910B primarily for less computationally intensive inference tasks, which involve pre-trained AI models making predictions, the three people and a separate source said.
Training AI models is far more demanding and requires huge amounts of data, necessitating the use of ultra-high-performance chips such as Nvidia's premium graphics processing units.
The new model's capability and complexity, measured by its computing parameters, will be less powerful than ByteDance's existing AI model Doubao, one of the people said.
ByteDance did not reply to a request for comment. Michael Hughes, a TikTok spokesman in Washington D.C., said, speaking on behalf of ByteDance, "The entire premise here is wrong. No new model is being developed".
Huawei did not reply to Reuters' requests for comment.
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ByteDance has ordered more than 100,000 Ascend 910B chips this year but has received fewer than 30,000 as of July, a pace too slow to meet company needs, one of the people said.
The constrained supply and limited computing power versus Nvidia's China-available chips have prevented ByteDance from setting a timeline for the new model, two of the people said.
ByteDance's current AI technology is used in its flagship large-language model launched in August 2023 and rebranded as chatbot Doubao, and in many other applications including a text-to-video tool Jimeng. It introduced two video-focused Doubao models this month to compete with OpenAI.
Use of such applications has ballooned since early this year, with ByteDance's chatbot becoming one of China's most popular apps with more than 10 million monthly active users.
The increased emphasis on AI has made ByteDance one of the largest buyers of Huawei's AI chips, the three people said.
It is also the biggest buyer of Nvidia's H20 AI chip, which the U.S. chipmaker tailored for the China market in response to trade restrictions, said two of the people. The TikTok owner is also Microsoft's biggest client in Asia for Nvidia chips accessible via cloud computing, said two separate sources.
Reuters previously reported that ByteDance allocated $2 billion for Nvidia chips last year.
Nvidia declined to comment. Microsoft did not reply to a request for comment.

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Meta Unveils Cheaper VR Headset, AI Updates and Shows off Prototype for Holographic AR Glasses

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing glasses (Reuters).
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing glasses (Reuters).
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Meta Unveils Cheaper VR Headset, AI Updates and Shows off Prototype for Holographic AR Glasses

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing glasses (Reuters).
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wearing glasses (Reuters).

Meta unveiled updates to the company's virtual reality headset and Ray Ban smart glasses on Wednesday as it tries to demonstrate its artificial intelligence prowess and the next generation of computing platforms beyond smartphones and computers.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg also showed off Orion, a prototype he called “the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen.”
“The technical challenges to make them are insane,” Zuckerberg told a crowd of developers and journalists at Meta's Menlo Park, California, headquarters. The holographic augmented reality glasses, for one, needed to be glasses — not a bulky headset. There are no wires and they have to weigh less than 100 grams (3.5 ounces), among other things. And beyond interacting with your voice, typing or hand gestures, Orion has a “wrist-based neural interface” — it lets you send a signal from your brain to the device, using a wristband that translates nerve signals into digital commands.
There is no release date for Orion — Zuckerberg called it a “glimpse of the future.”
Seemingly in his element speaking to a cheering crowd, Zuckerberg said Meta is working to “bring the future to everyone” with its headsets, glasses and AI system. As part of an update to its Llama model, people will now be able to interact with Meta AI by speaking, with voices from celebrities such as John Cena, Judi Dench and Awkwafina.
“We are trying to build a future that is more open, more accessible, more natural, and more about human connection," Zuckerberg said. ”This is the continuation of the values and ideas that we have brought to the apps and technology that we have built over Meta’s first 20 years.”
An AI update aimed at influencers allows them to craft AI versions of themselves — for interacting with fans. On the keynote stage, an AI version of creator Don Allen Stevenson III appeared on the screen and answered a few questions just as the actual creator would. When Zuckerberg asked the AI creator about cattle ranching, it responded “my expertise lies in technology and design, not agriculture.” An earlier version of this tool was text only.
Other AI updates include live translation, which Zuckerberg demonstrated on stage. While wearing the smart glasses, Zuckerberg spoke in English to Mexican mixed martial artist Brandon Moreno replying in Spanish — the conversation was translated in real time. People can also dub their videos in another language so that it looks like they are speaking natively — even going so far as changing their lips movements to match.
Meta AI now has 500 million users, the company said. Jeremy Goldman of the research firm Emarketer called the number “jaw-dropping.”
“Meta has transformed from just a social media company into an AI powerhouse. Zuckerberg’s move to celebrity voices is not just for fun — it’s a direct challenge to OpenAI, with an emphasis on real-world utility," Goldman said.
Meta, which introduced the Quest 3 last year, also showed off a cheaper version of the VR goggles — the 3S — that will cost $299. The regular Quest 3 costs $499. The S3 will start shipping on Oct. 15.
“Meta is aggressively undercutting Apple’s Vision Pro to dominate the middle-tier AR/VR market,” Goldman said. Those VR goggles, which came out earlier this year after much anticipation, cost $3,500.
While VR goggles have grabbed more headlines, the augmented reality Ray Bans turned out to be a sleeper hit for Meta. The company hasn't disclosed sales numbers, but Zuckerberg said during Meta's July earnings call that the glasses “continue to be a bigger hit sooner than we expected — thanks in part to AI.” Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that Meta seems to have gotten past the supply issues that plagued the Ray Bans a few months ago due to high demand.
“They are kind of the perfect form factor for AI,” Zuckerberg said. The glasses, he added, let an AI assistant “see what you see, hear what you hear” and help you go about your day.
For instance, you can ask the glasses to remind you where you parked or to pick up groceries, look at a pile of fruit and come up with a smoothie recipe, or help you pick out a party outfit.
Meta — which renamed itself from Facebook in 2021, still makes nearly all of its money from advertising. In its most recent quarter, 98% of its more than $39 billion in revenue came from ads. At the same time, the company is investing heavily in AI and what Zuckerberg sees as the next generation of computing platforms such as VR headsets and AR glasses.
“VR headsets, despite Meta’s assertion, will not go mainstream," said Forrester research director Mike Proulx. “They’re too cumbersome, and people can only tolerate them in short bursts.”
Glasses, on the other hand “put computing power directly into a common and familiar form factor. As the smart tech behind these glasses matures, they have the potential to disrupt everyday consumers’ interactions with brands.”
Proulx said the Orion prototype "sets the stage for a future where a revolutionary 3D computing platform is within reach and can actually be useful to the everyday consumer.”