ByteDance secured a $29.6 billion loan to fund its push into artificial intelligence. The deal is a syndicated three-year facility arranged by Citigroup and JPMorgan and ranks as Asia’s second-largest dollar-denominated borrowing this year.
The TikTok owner expanded the lending after demand from nearly 30 banks, and the final size exceeded the company’s initial target as it expanded its initial target.
The borrowing follows a year-long ramp in AI capital spending at ByteDance, which has moved from multibillion-dollar chip and data-center commitments into larger overseas infrastructure plans.
Caixin says the money is intended to accelerate ByteDance’s AI build-out as it seeks to close the gap with global AI leaders.
