ByteDance is building its own CPUs on Arm and RISC-V to feed its AI infrastructure

ByteDance is developing its own data-centre processors to support expanding AI infrastructure. The company is pursuing two parallel CPU design tracks: one based on Arm and another based on the open-source RISC-V instruction-set architecture. Intel and AMD, which currently supply most of ByteDance’s server-CPU footprint, have raised data-centre-grade processor prices by 10% to 35% across recent quarters. ByteDance’s 2026 AI-infrastructure budget reportedly increased 25% to about 200 billion yuan, making the procurement impact of higher prices significant. Arm-based server CPUs are already widely deployed, while RISC-V is less proven at server scale but is increasingly favored in China for strategic autonomy and reduced licensing and export-control exposure. Chinese policy has endorsed RISC-V as an alternative to Arm’s IP.

"ByteDance is developing its own central processing units to power the data centres behind its expanding AI infrastructure, according to a Reuters report on Thursday citing people familiar with the company's chip programme."

"The TikTok parent is pursuing two parallel design tracks, one based on Arm and another on the open-source RISC-V instruction-set architecture, while it works out which design best fits its longer-term needs."

"Intel and AMD, which currently supply most of ByteDance's server-CPU footprint, have raised data-centre-grade processor prices by between 10% and 35% in successive recent quarters, according to the Reuters reporting."

"RISC-V, the royalty-free instruction-set originally developed at Berkeley, is less proven at server scale but is increasingly favoured inside China because it sidesteps the licensing-and-export-control exposure that comes with Arm's UK-headquartered, Softbank-owned IP."

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