ByteDance is building out access to Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips outside China as it accelerates its global artificial intelligence ambitions, according to a Wall Street Journal report.\n\nThe report said the TikTok parent is working with Southeast Asian cloud provider Aolani Cloud to deploy around 500 Nvidia Blackwell systems in Malaysia, amounting to roughly 36,000 B200 chips. The infrastructure project would likely cost more than $2.5 billion.\n\nByteDance plans to use the new computing capacity for AI research and development outside China and to serve growing international demand from its customers, the report said. Aolani currently operates with about $100 million worth of hardware.\n\nNvidia said U.S. export rules are designed to allow cloud systems to be built and operated outside controlled countries. The company also said all cloud partners are reviewed by its internal teams before being approved to receive its products.\n\nAolani said it fully complies with applicable export control regulations and aims to provide cloud-computing services to multiple companies across Asia and around the world. ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe report comes after Reuters said last month that the United States was willing to allow ByteDance to buy Nvidia’s H200 chips, although Nvidia had not agreed to proposed conditions for their use.