Jan 21 (Reuters) - ByteDance is placing a big bet on

artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure as the TikTok parent

plans to spend more than $12 billion on AI in 2025, the

Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

This move comes as the Chinese company faces pressure from

Washington to sell its popular video-sharing app in the United

States.

"The anonymously sourced information about our plan is

incorrect," a ByteDance spokesperson said in response to the FT

report.

ByteDance plans to spend 40 billion yuan ($5.50 billion) to

acquire AI chips in China in 2025, the report said, adding that

the company will invest about $6.8 billion overseas to ramp up

its foundation model training capabilities using advanced Nvidia ( NVDA )

chips.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) declined to comment on the report.

About 60% of ByteDance's domestic semiconductor orders would

go to Chinese suppliers such as Huawei and Cambricon, while the

rest would be spent on Nvidia ( NVDA ) chips that have been watered down

to align with U.S. export controls, according to the report.

Beijing has given its tech companies informal guidance to

buy at least 30% of their chips from the country's own

suppliers, the report said.

TikTok, Huawei and Cambricon did not immediately respond to

Reuters' request for a comment.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order on Monday to

delay a ban on TikTok, which was originally scheduled to take

effect from Jan. 19.

($1 = 7.2712 Chinese yuan)