The Pulse
ByteDance in Advanced Talks to Buy MediaTek Data-Center Chips
ByteDance is close to an agreement to buy custom data-center chips from MediaTek, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the talks. MediaTek’s July guidance set a 15%–20% target share of the 2027 custom AI-chip market,
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
ByteDance is close to an agreement to buy data-center semiconductors from MediaTek, Bloomberg News reported on October 15, 2026, citing people familiar with the matter. The companies are in advanced talks over bespoke chips intended to help run ByteDance’s data centers, the report said. Neither company has publicly confirmed a signed deal.
Custom chips for data centers
The proposed chips are application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs: semiconductors designed for a particular customer’s platform. Bloomberg reported that MediaTek would supply an unspecified quantity. The report did not disclose an order size, price or delivery schedule.
If an agreement is completed, ByteDance could become a major customer for MediaTek’s ASIC business after Google, Bloomberg reported. For ByteDance, the proposed supply would secure another source of components for its data centers. For MediaTek, a large customer would support its effort to grow beyond mobile processors and compete in the data-center market with Qualcomm and Broadcom.
Bloomberg based its account on people familiar with the discussions who requested anonymity because the arrangement is private. The report describes negotiations, not a completed purchase. Reuters, in a report carried by Channel NewsAsia on October 15, said it could not immediately verify Bloomberg’s account. ByteDance did not immediately comment to Bloomberg, while a MediaTek representative declined to comment, according to Bloomberg’s report.
ByteDance’s infrastructure plans
The reported discussions come as ByteDance considers increasing spending on AI infrastructure, including data centers. In a separate part of its October 15 report, Bloomberg said the Beijing-based company was considering raising capital expenditure to as much as $70 billion in 2026, more than twice the previous year’s level. Spending could reach $100 billion in 2027 if economic and business conditions are favorable, Bloomberg reported. The company secured a $30 billion loan in September to help fund the spending, the report said.
Those figures describe company spending plans, not the value of the potential MediaTek arrangement. Bloomberg did not say how many chips ByteDance might order or what share of its infrastructure budget the proposed supply would represent.
Bloomberg also reported that MediaTek expected its AI-chip revenue to reach about $2 billion in 2026. MediaTek’s July guidance set a target of 15% to 20% of the estimated $80 billion custom AI-chip market in 2027, revised upward from its prior 10% to 15% target. The figures are company projections, not realized sales or a measure of any ByteDance contract.
During a July 31 earnings call, MediaTek Chief Executive Officer Dr. Rick Tsai described the updated target:
“With that, we now believe the 2027 SAM will be 80 billion US dollars, and we are raising our share target to 15% to 20% from 10% to 15% that we guided last quarter.”
A completed agreement could give MediaTek another significant customer for its data-center ASIC business, but the reported talks alone do not establish that outcome.
Supply and competition
Bloomberg described ByteDance and other Chinese companies as seeking alternatives as access to some advanced AI semiconductors is limited by US export restrictions. The report said ByteDance had previously reached a similar agreement with Qualcomm to procure millions of AI chips. It also said that a MediaTek deal would help the chipmaker compete with Qualcomm in supplying data-center semiconductors.
The reported MediaTek talks remain short of a confirmed contract. The available details establish the chip category and intended use, but not the quantity, technical design, price or timing of any supply. Those terms, as well as confirmation from the companies, have not been disclosed in the reports.