TikTok is one of Microsoft’s largest AI cloud computing customers

Cloud AI business on track to $1 billion in annual revenue, Microsoft says Information, but the report noted that TikTok may not need these capabilities as much if it develops its own immense language model (LLM).

Last year, my colleague Alex Heath reported that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was “secretly using” OpenAI technology to build its own LLM:

This practice is widely considered a faux pas in the AI ​​world. It is also a direct violation of OpenAI’s policies. Terms of Servicewhich states that the results of its model cannot be used “to develop any artificial intelligence models that compete with our products and services.” Microsoft, through which ByteDance buys access to OpenAI, has the same policy.

Microsoft also has a multibillion-dollar investment deal to become OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider and has spent “several hundred million dollars” to build a supercomputer that will run ChatGPT. In its Q4 2024 earnings report released Tuesday, Microsoft revealed Azure revenue growth of 29 percent, slightly below the 30 percent to 31 percent it forecast in its last earnings report. CFO Amy Hood said Microsoft expects Azure revenue growth of about 28 percent to 29 percent in Q1 2025.