China Is Slowly but Surely Breaking Free From Nvidia

ByteDance bought more Nvidia chips than any other Chinese company in 2025, according to three people with direct knowledge of its purchases. Racing to secure computing power for its billion-plus users and fearing Washington might suddenly cut off supply, the TikTok parent hoarded its stock of the chips.

ByteDance’s fears about a supply crunch were well placed—but when the clampdown came, it wasn’t from Washington. In recent months, Chinese regulators blocked ByteDance from using Nvidia chips in new data centers, according to two ByteDance employees, which means it is sitting on chips it can’t use.