According to sources, ByteDance plans to spend US$20 billion in capital expenditures in 2025, mainly for artificial intelligence

Sources say half will be used for overseas AI infrastructure

According to sources, the main beneficiaries are Huawei, Cambrian, and Nvidia

Spending will solidify domestic AI leadership

The plans come as TikTok’s future in the U.S. remains in doubt

BEIJING, Jan 23 (Reuters) – TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance has earmarked more than 150 billion yuan ($20.64 billion) in capital spending this year, two people familiar with the matter said, most of which will be focused on artificial intelligence. .

The privately held technology giant plans to spend about half of the funds on overseas artificial intelligence-related infrastructure, mainly data centers and network equipment, they said.

The main beneficiaries of the spending will be chipmakers Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Cambrian Technologies Inc, as well as U.S. supplier Nvidia Corp, people familiar with the matter said. The person declined to be named because the information is confidential.

ByteDance, Huawei and Cambrian did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. Nvidia declined to comment.

The spending will help ByteDance defend its domestic artificial intelligence leadership. The company started 2024 as a laggard but now has more than 15 independent AI applications, more than rivals such as Baidu and Tencent Holdings, including top chatbot Doubao.

The funding will also bolster artificial intelligence offerings overseas as ByteDance grapples with TikTok’s future in the United States. US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday delaying a ban on the short video app for 75 days.

It’s unclear how plans for 2025 compare to previous years, as the privately held company doesn’t disclose financial details.

On Tuesday, the Financial Times reported that ByteDance plans to spend $12 billion on artificial intelligence infrastructure. In December, The Information reported on a $7 billion plan to obtain Nvidia chips outside China, where the United States restricts high-tech exports.

ByteDance is already the largest buyer of Nvidia’s H20 AI chip, which the U.S. chipmaker customized for China in response to restrictions, Reuters reported in September. The TikTok owner is also Microsoft’s largest customer in Asia for Nvidia chips, which are accessed through cloud computing, sources told Reuters.

Its AI applications in China include Doubao, which has 75 million monthly active users, according to QuestMobile.

It also operates text-to-video generator Jimeng and image generator Xinghui, as well as custom chatbot development platform Kouzi and Maoxiang, which provides role-playing and emotional support.

Unlike its domestic counterparts, ByteDance has created overseas counterparts for its largest apps — Doubao is known internationally as Cici and Ji Meng is called Dreamina.

On Wednesday, ByteDance updated its flagship AI model, also known as Doubao, designed to challenge the Microsoft-backed OpenAI inference model product.

Still, its spending is modest compared with U.S. tech giants. Google parent Alphabet last year planned to spend $50 billion on chips, data centers and other spending, while Microsoft spent $55.7 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, much of it on artificial intelligence infrastructure. ($1 = 7.2671 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Liam Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christopher Cushing)