ByteDance has had enough of waiting months for processors, so it's going to make them itself (2 minute read)

# ByteDance has had enough of waiting months for processors, so it's going to make them itself Source: [https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/bytedance-has-had-enough-of-waiting-months-for-processors-so-its-going-to-make-them-itself/](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/bytedance-has-had-enough-of-waiting-months-for-processors-so-its-going-to-make-them-itself/) \(Image credit: hapabapa via Getty Images\) ByteDance, the company behind TikTok and video editing app CapCut, is developing its own CPUs in a bid to better support its AI infrastructure\. Given the AI industry's hunger for silicon, it's hardly surprising another massive tech company is taking hardware into its own hands\. Several external partners have already been approached with regard to design work for ByteDance's chip\. Securing capacity at manufacturing foundries was apparently also discussed\. The plan is in the early stages and not yet public, but[Reuters spoke with a number of anonymous sources](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/bytedance-developing-custom-cpu-chips-support-ai-rollout-sources-say-2026-05-28/)familiar with the matter\. Currently, ByteDance is exploring two different chip architectures: Arm and RISC\-V\. Both architectures are used for chips in data centres throughout the wider industry, though Arm presents a proprietary ISA, with a fixed feature set to go along with it, whereas RISC\-V is a modular, royalty\-free, open\-source architecture\. I can imagine not having to pay Arm's licensing fees may be especially appealing to any major player looking to make their own chips\. There's been[a lot of excitement about Arm chips in the realm of PC gaming](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/the-core-in-nvidias-upcoming-pc-processor-achieves-performance-parity-with-intel-and-amds-latest-chips-but-will-it-actually-be-any-good-for-games/), especially as the hardware team waits for even a whisper of news about[Nvidia's still\-yet\-to\-be\-announced N1X Arm chip](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/nvidias-still-yet-to-be-announced-n1x-arm-chip-is-referenced-on-a-lenovo-login-page-so-make-of-that-what-you-will/)\(various reports have insisted[it's coming at some point this year](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-laptops/nvidias-long-awaited-n1x-arm-chip-for-the-pc-will-be-released-within-months-according-to-a-new-report/)\)\. As for the alternate, open\-source architecture…well, a few years back someone built[a fully compliant RISC\-V computer inside Terraria—and then they played Pong on it](https://www.pcgamer.com/wunderkind-builds-fully-compliant-risc-v-computer-entirely-inside-terraria-then-plays-pong-on-it/)\. As the AI industry reaches towards CPU\-intensive 'inference', ByteDance's planned chip is intended to be deployed throughout its AI data centres and servers\. This, in turn, will support ByteDance's agentic AI products, such as the company's development platform, Coze\.  [Reuters reported earlier this year](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/intel-amd-notify-customers-china-lengthy-waits-cpus-2026-02-06/)that Intel had warned its Chinese customers that orders for processors could take six months to fulfil\. The same report claims AMD was looking at 10\-week delivery times in the same market, and ByteDance currently sources its CPUs from these two partners\. With that in mind, alongside[the knock\-on effects of the memory supply crisis](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/memory/ram-and-storage-is-ridiculously-expensive-right-now-because-of-drumroll-ai-of-course-and-theres-little-reason-to-think-prices-will-drop-any-time-soon/), it's unsurprising ByteDance would take the route of making its own hardware\. It's not the only company to go this way, either, with[Google announcing its own Arm\-based CPU all the way back in 2024](https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/7706533/type/dlg/sid/pcg-us-1358501349088768842/https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/compute/introducing-googles-new-arm-based-cpu)\. Microsoft, too, is moving towards[designing more custom silicon for its own data centres](https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=92X590208&xcust=pcg_us_9725549844361784312&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2025%2F10%2F01%2Fmicrosoft-wants-to-mainly-use-its-own-ai-chips-in-the-future.html&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcgamer.com), and[so is Amazon](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/aws/aws-trainium-graviton-ai-chips-explained)\. Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team\.  Jess has been writing about games for over ten years, spending a significant chunk of that time working on print publications PLAY and Official PlayStation Magazine\. When she’s not investigating all things hardware here, she's either constructing a passionate defence of a 7/10 game, daydreaming about her debut novel, or feeling wistful about the last time she chased some nerds around a field with an oversized foam sword\.