ByteDance is developing a custom Groq-style LPU AI inference chip to bypass US export restrictions on high-bandwidth memory

ByteDance is reportedly building its own inference chip modeled on Groq's LPU, the same architecture Nvidia paid roughly $20B to license in December.

The LPU keeps the model in on-chip SRAM and skips high-bandwidth memory. HBM is the component the US restricts most tightly for export to China. ByteDance's memory partner InnoStar fabs at TSMC's mature nodes, which also sit outside the controls.

Each of those choices routes around a US restriction. What's left is the architecture Nvidia just spent $20B to own.

China is increasingly moving toward developing its own chips and is succeeding in becoming ever more independent of the USA.

That is truly impressive.

Source: The Information.