TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance is assembling a major GPU cluster using Nvidia's latest Blackwell chips outside China, routing the hardware through a Southeast Asian intermediary to sidestep US export controls, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

ByteDance is working with Aolani Cloud, a Malaysia-based company, to deploy approximately 500 Nvidia Blackwell computing systems totaling roughly 36,000 B200 chips. Aolani sources the servers from Aivres, a firm that assembles systems using Nvidia hardware. If completed, the deal would cost more than $2.5 billion — though Aolani currently operates with about $100 million in hardware, according to a company spokesman.

ByteDance says the compute is intended for AI research and development outside China and to serve growing global demand from its customers.

Export Control Workaround

The arrangement highlights a growing pattern: Chinese tech firms increasingly route advanced AI compute through Southeast Asian data centers to work around US export restrictions that remain in place from the Biden administration. Those rules prevent Chinese companies from directly purchasing Nvidia's most advanced chips, including the H100 and newer Blackwell B200 GPUs.

The move carries its own risks. Reuters reported last month that Washington had signaled it was open to allowing ByteDance to purchase Nvidia H200 chips directly, but that Nvidia had not yet agreed to the proposed usage conditions. Whether the Malaysia route raises fresh regulatory scrutiny remains to be seen.

Nvidia, ByteDance, and Aolani Cloud did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters noted it could not independently verify the original WSJ report.