From TikTok to Nvidia, the tech war is getting uglier

ByteDance's current dilemma is a taste of what is to come as more companies will feel the pinch from both the US and Chinese sides.

- Catherine Thorbecke

ByteDance's options for TikTok in the US are looking increasingly desolate, as the tech war between Washington and Beijing boils over. The mutual distrust and tit-for-tat animosity lay bare the new reality, where more firms will be pinched from both sides.

China's market regulators are now targeting Nvidia in a probe stemming from a deal Beijing approved years ago. The move against the Santa Clara-based chipmaker follows other recent escalations; Beijing halted exports of certain minerals with tech applications to the US after Washington intensified chip curbs to China last week. China is also cutting off drone supplies to the US and Europe that have become a vital part of Ukraine's defense.

And on Dec 6, a US federal appeals court upheld a law forcing TikTok to divest from Chinese parent ByteDance or face a ban. This makes Nvidia an especially interesting fresh target for Beijing, in part because it exposes how interconnected supply chains still are. ByteDance has become Nvidia's largest customer in China, and amid the TikTok uncertainty it has been reportedly going all-in on artificial intelligence ambitions in search of its next growth engine.