TikTok Parent ByteDance Secures $29.6 Billion Loan From 28 Banks To Fund Major AI Expansion

ByteDance is turning to the debt market to help fund its growing artificial intelligence ambitions, securing $29.6 billion from a group of 28 banks after lenders showed stronger-than-expected appetite for the deal.

ByteDance Secures $29.6 Billion AI Loan

The three-year unsecured facility was coordinated by Citigroup and JPMorgan, with the borrowing later expandable to as long as five years.

ByteDance had initially sought $20 billion, but increased the facility after commitments from lenders exceeded the original target.

The deal is one of Asia’s largest dollar-denominated corporate borrowings in 2026, ranking second behind SoftBank’s $40 billion bridge loan linked to its investment in OpenAI.

The scale of the financing gives ByteDance more funding capacity as it spends heavily on AI computing, chips and data centre infrastructure.

Why Did Banks Back The Larger Loan?

The financing attracted 28 banks, including major Chinese and international lenders.

Chinese banks accounted for the largest share, committing a combined $18.9 billion, or about 64% of the total facility.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China agreed to provide $3 billion, while Bank of China committed $2.5 billion and China Construction Bank provided $1.5 billion.

HSBC and two other foreign banks each committed $1.5 billion.

The loan is also notable because it is unsecured, meaning ByteDance did not pledge specific assets as collateral.

One source involved in the financing said,

"It is very rare to see such a mega loan unsecured.”

"The banks practically are counting purely on ByteDance's name."

The facility carries an opening margin of 68 basis points above the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, a relatively low borrowing cost compared with SoftBank’s March facility, which had an initial margin of about 250 basis points.

AI Investment Drives ByteDance’s Funding Needs

ByteDance has not provided a detailed breakdown of how the new financing will be spent, with the loan formally intended for general corporate purposes.

However, people familiar with the financing said AI investment is a major reason behind the company’s increased funding needs.

The company has been expanding its Seed AI research division, which was established in 2023 and works on foundation models and other AI systems.

ByteDance has also developed Doubao, along with AI models covering language, images, video and audio.

Building and running these systems requires large amounts of computing power, pushing ByteDance to secure additional chips and data centre capacity.

Some of the financing is expected to support AI chips and data centres outside China, including projects in Southeast Asia.

ByteDance is reportedly acting as a customer for several overseas data centre projects, although specific sites, construction schedules and spending commitments have not been publicly confirmed.

ByteDance Could Spend Up To $70 Billion On AI Infrastructure

The new loan comes as ByteDance considers a much larger AI spending programme.

Bloomberg reported in May that the company was considering capital spending of as much as $70 billion during 2026, covering data centres and other AI infrastructure.

The figure was described as a potential spending ceiling rather than a confirmed investment budget, and ByteDance has not publicly confirmed the amount.

The company has also faced rising costs and supply constraints as it expands its computing capacity.

US export controls restrict access to certain advanced processors and related components, while shortages of high-bandwidth memory have increased costs for Chinese AI chip suppliers.

These restrictions have made access to computing resources both inside and outside China an important part of ByteDance’s AI strategy.

China’s Tech Giants Race To Build AI Computing Power

ByteDance’s borrowing places it alongside Alibaba and Tencent as Chinese technology companies pour money into AI infrastructure.

The spending increasingly resembles the huge capital programmes undertaken by major US technology companies, particularly around data centres and computing hardware.

For ByteDance, the investment comes despite pressure on profitability.

Its net profit fell by more than 70% in 2025, with the company partly attributing the decline to accounting changes, while the scale of its AI investment has also increased costs.

The latest loan gives the privately held company additional debt funding without requiring it to sell equity.

ByteDance previously raised $10.8 billion through a loan involving about 20 banks in 2024, making the latest facility nearly three times larger.

The latest financing also comes as ByteDance competes with global AI companies while acknowledging that its large language models trail leading systems developed by companies such as OpenAI and Google.