ByteDance plans to spend 160 b yuan towards AI infrastructure in 2026, FT reports

TikTok owner ByteDance has made preliminary plans for capital expenditure of 160 billion yuan (HK$177 billion) in 2026 to build artificial intelligence infrastructure, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Previously, the tech giant said it would invest 85 billion yuan in the AI CPU next year.

Although US President Donald Trump has lifted the ban on Nvidia's H200 chips to China, it may still be hindered due to opposition from some lawmakers in Washington and Chinese authorities, the report said.

If the sales are approved, ByteDance is expected to purchase 20,000 units at a price of approximately US$20,000 (HK$22,128) each.

ByteDance also continued to invest billions of dollars in leasing overseas data centers to legally use Nvidia's most advanced hardware for training its AI models and providing services to overseas clients.

However, major US tech companies, including Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta, have invested over US$300 billion this year in building data centers to support AI models and products.

Staff reporter and Reuters