ByteDance Secures $29.6 Billion Unsecured Loan to Accelerate Global AI Push

ByteDance secures $29.6 billion loan in AI push, sources say

HONG KONG, Sept 4 (Reuters) - ByteDance has secured a $29.6 billion loan from nearly 30 banks, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday, with the Chinese social media giant's bet on AI development driving strong interest from lenders. The loan is the second-largest made in Asia this year after SoftBank raised $40 billion in March to boost OpenAI investments, underscoring lenders' enthusiasm for the sector which demands ever-increasing capital. Chinese, U.S., European and Singaporean banks are participating in the financing, the people said, with the three-year loan co-ordinated by Citigroup (C.N), opens new tab and JPMorgan (JPM.N), opens new tab set to be signed by ByteDance shortly. ByteDance and JPMorgan did not immediately ⁠respond to requests for comment. Citi declined to comment. Bloomberg News first reported on the loan on Thursday. The owner of popular social media apps Douyin and TikTok increased the facility from an initial target of $20 billion after an overwhelming response from lenders, said the people, who declined to be named as the information was confidential. Chinese banks have subscribed to more than 60% of the total amount, one of them added. ByteDance told lenders the financing would be for general corporate purposes, but the people said that the funds will mainly support the company's AI-related plans. The facility has an initial term of three years and options to extend for two more years, two of them said. RARE UNSECURED MEGA LOAN ByteDance has stepped up its AI spending. Reuters reported in June that ⁠the tech firm was in talks with Shanghai-based Iluvatar CoreX (9903.HK), opens new tab to purchase AI chips for inference work and is also considering a similar deal with Baidu (9888.HK), opens new tab. The new dollar-denominated facility is unsecured, meaning ByteDance is not pledging any asset or shares as collateral, reflecting how confidently lenders view the company's creditworthiness. "It is very rare to see such a mega loan unsecured," said one of the sources. "The banks practically are counting purely ⁠on ByteDance's name." The loan will be used to fund projects outside China, the source said, adding ByteDance is the offtaker for many of the data centers being built in Southeast Asia. An offtaker signs a binding contract with a data center to purchase a certain amount of ⁠its capacity. "ByteDance is competing with local hyperscalers on AI data centers and with global hyperscalers on multimodal AI model," said Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at research firm Omdia. "Both require massive investment, especially if we look at the Capex poured into ⁠AI training by the likes of OpenAI and Google," he said. ByteDance last tapped the global loan market in September 2024, raising $10.8 billion from roughly 20 international and Chinese lenders, according to a Bloomberg report at the time. Reporting by Kane Wu, Yantoultra Ngui and Selena Li in Hong Kong; and Eduardo Baptista in Beijing; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee, Kirsten Donovan Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Finance * Capital Markets Kane Wu Thomson Reuters Kane Wu covers M&A, private equity, venture capital and investment banks in Asia. She tracks the region's most high-profile deals, fundraisings as well as investment trends amidst geopolitical, macroeconomic and regulatory changes. She was nominated for a SOPA Excellence in Business Reporting award for coverage of China regulatory crackdown in 2021. Prior to Reuters, she worked at the Wall Street Journal and also wrote about Asia's loan market for Thomson Reuters Basis Point. She is based in Hong Kong. Yantoultra Ngui Thomson Reuters Yantoultra Ngui is Reuters' Asia Capital Markets & M&A Correspondent in Hong Kong, covering deal-making and capital markets across the region. Previously Reuters' Southeast Asia Deals Correspondent in Singapore, he has also reported for Bloomberg News, The Edge Malaysia and The Wall Street Journal. At the Journal, he covered the 1MDB scandal and was part of a SOPA Award-winning team for breaking news coverage of the assassination of Kim Jong Nam in Malaysia. He holds an MBA in Finance from Universiti Putra Malaysia.

TikTok's Parent Company Just Borrowed $30 Billion to Go All-In on AI

Sources said the money will mainly support AI projects outside China. TikTok parent ByteDance has secured a $29.6 billion loan from nearly 30 banks as it increases spending on artificial intelligence. According to a report by Reuters, citing people with direct knowledge of the transaction, lender demand allowed ByteDance to raise the dollar-denominated facility from an initial $20 billion target. Banks from China, the United States, Europe, and Singapore are participating in the loan, coordinated by Citigroup and JPMorgan, the report said. Chinese banks subscribed to more than 60% of the total, one source said. "It is very rare to see such a mega loan unsecured," one source told Reuters. "The banks practically are counting purely ⁠on ByteDance's name." ByteDance reportedly told lenders the three-year loan, which can be extended by two years, was for general corporate purposes. However, Reuters' sources said it would mainly fund overseas AI projects, including data center capacity in Southeast Asia. ByteDance's loan follows heavy investment across the AI sector. A January 2025 report said the company planned to spend up to $12 billion on chips and overseas infrastructure, though ByteDance disputed the figures. Two months later, OpenAI secured a $40 billion SoftBank-led funding round, while ByteDance's Doubao ranked fourth in an August survey of mobile AI usage. SoftBank later sold its $5.83 billion Nvidia stake to help finance its OpenAI investment. Chinese developers are also competing on price. DeepSeek and Xiaomi sharply cut the cost of their AI models in May, widening the pricing gap with leading American systems. ByteDance's expansion comes as Beijing tightens its AI oversight. In July, the company removed customizable agents from Doubao ahead of new restrictions on humanlike AI services. Chinese officials have also discussed limiting overseas access to advanced domestic AI models, potentially complicating ByteDance's international plans.

ByteDance: ByteDance secures $29.6 billion loan in AI push, sources say

ByteDance secured a massive $29.6 billion loan from nearly thirty banks. Chinese banks provided over sixty percent of this significant loan facility. The funds will primarily support ByteDance's ambitious overseas artificial intelligence expansion plans. This unsecured loan reflects strong lender confidence in the company's creditworthiness. The financing is the second-largest in Asia this year, highlighting sector enthusiasm. ByteDance has secured a $29.6 billion loan from nearly 30 banks, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday, with the Chinese social media giant's bet on AI development driving strong interest from lenders. The loan is the second-largest made in Asia this year after SoftBank raised $40 ⁠billion in ⁠March to boost OpenAI investments, underscoring lenders' enthusiasm for the sector which demands ever-increasing capital. Chinese, U.S., European and Singaporean banks are participating in the financing, the people said, with the three-year loan co-ordinated by Citigroup and JPMorgan set to be signed by ByteDance shortly. ByteDance and JPMorgan did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Citi declined to comment. Bloomberg News first reported on the loan on Thursday. The owner of popular social media apps Douyin and TikTok increased the facility from an initial target of $20 billion after an overwhelming response from lenders, said the people, who declined ⁠to be named as the information was confidential. Chinese banks have subscribed to more than 60% of the total amount, one of them added. ByteDance told lenders the financing would be for general corporate purposes, but ⁠the people said that the funds will mainly support the company's AI-related plans. The facility has an initial term of three years and options to extend for two more years, two of them said. RARE UNSECURED MEGA LOAN ByteDance has stepped up its AI spending. Reuters reported in June that the tech firm was in talks with Shanghai-based Iluvatar CoreX to purchase AI chips for inference work and is also considering a similar deal with Baidu . The new dollar-denominated facility is unsecured, meaning ByteDance is not pledging any asset or shares as collateral, reflecting how confidently lenders view the company's creditworthiness. "It is very rare to see such a mega loan unsecured," said one of the sources. "The banks practically are counting purely on ByteDance's name." The loan will be used to fund projects outside China, the source said, adding ByteDance is the offtaker for ⁠many of the data centers being built in Southeast Asia. An offtaker signs a binding contract with a data center to purchase a certain amount of its capacity. "ByteDance is competing with local hyperscalers on AI data centers and with global hyperscalers on multimodal AI model," said Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at research firm Omdia. "Both require massive investment, especially if we look at the Capex poured into AI training by the likes of OpenAI and Google," he said. ByteDance last tapped the global loan market in September 2024, raising $10.8 billion from roughly 20 international and Chinese lenders, according to a Bloomberg report at the time.

ByteDance Secures USD 29.6B Loan: AI Expansion Goes Global

ByteDance secured a USD 29.6 billion loan from nearly 30 banks to expand artificial intelligence operations overseas. The deal emerged in Hong Kong on Friday, September 4, as lenders showed strong confidence in ByteDance's AI growth plans. Chinese, US, European, and Singaporean banks joined the three-year facility coordinated by Citigroup and JPMorgan. The financing will mainly support AI infrastructure, data centers, and related projects outside China, according to sources. The loan ranks as Asia's second-largest dollar-denominated borrowing this year, following SoftBank's USD 40 billion financing in March. raised the facility from an initial USD 20 billion target after banks showed overwhelming demand. Chinese lenders supplied more than 60% of the total financing, highlighting strong domestic support for the company's expansion. The facility stands out as an unsecured mega loan, meaning ByteDance pledged no assets or shares as collateral. One source called the structure rare and said banks were relying heavily on ByteDance's credit strength. The three-year facility also includes options that could extend the borrowing period by another two years. ByteDance has accelerated AI spending while building capacity for data centers and advanced AI models. Reuters reported earlier that the company explored AI chip purchases from Shanghai-based Iluvatar CoreX and Baidu. Southeast Asia remains an important target, with ByteDance linked to several data centers under development across the region. "ByteDance is competing with local hyperscalers on AI data centers and with global hyperscalers on multimodal AI models," said Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at Omdia. The analyst noted that both areas require massive investment as global companies increase AI training expenditure. The new financing signals a sharper phase in , where computing capacity increasingly shapes competitive strength. ByteDance last entered the global loan market in September 2024, raising USD 10.8 billion from about 20 lenders.

ByteDance puts $30bn on the table to win the AI battle

Chinese banks account for more than 60% of the financing, with American, European, and Singaporean lenders also taking part. The dollar-denominated credit facility is unsecured, underscoring lenders' confidence in ByteDance's creditworthiness. Officially earmarked for the group's general corporate purposes, the financing is expected to primarily support its investments in artificial intelligence and projects located outside China. Owner of TikTok and Douyin, ByteDance is sharply increasing its spending on AI infrastructure and chips. The group is notably considering purchases of inference processors from Iluvatar CoreX and Baidu, and has committed to reserving capacity at several data centers under construction in Southeast Asia. This new fundraising comes after a previous $10.8bn loan secured in September 2024 from about 20 banks.