(Yicai) Jan. 22 -- A ByteDance company representative has rebutted a report that the Chinese owner of TikTok plans to make an over USD12 billion investment in infrastructure for artificial intelligence this year.

ByteDance attaches great importance to developing and investing in the AI field, but the reported budget plans are incorrect, the person told Yicai.

Financial Times reported yesterday, citing two sources familiar with the matter, that Beijing-based ByteDance plans to double its investment in domestic AI chips to CNY40 billion (USD5.5 billion) this year from the year before and spend around USD6.8 billion to boost its overseas foundation model training capabilities using advanced Nvidia chips.

Editor: Martin Kadiev