China's short-video sharing platform company ByteDance is developing an artificial intelligence (AI) chip and is negotiating with Samsung Electronics regarding contract manufacturing, according to two sources familiar with the matter. 

The move aims to ensure that ByteDance secures a supply of advanced processors.

The sources mentioned that ByteDance plans to receive chip samples by the end of March. The company plans to produce at least 100,000 chips for AI inference tasks this year and ramp up production to 350,000 units.

The negotiations with Samsung also include securing a supply of memory chips, which are in short supply globally due to the ongoing AI infrastructure build-out, making the deal more attractive. A company spokesperson stated that information regarding the chip project was inaccurate but did not provide further clarification. Samsung declined to comment.