TLDR
- ByteDance signed a $29.6 billion loan with 28 banks, including ICBC and HSBC, making it Asia’s second-largest dollar loan this year.
- State-backed banks led the deal, contributing $18.9 billion, or 64% of the total.
- The three-year loan, extendable to five years, will be used for general corporate purposes as ByteDance expands its AI operations.
- ByteDance is borrowing at just 0.68 percentage points above the benchmark rate, reflecting strong lender confidence.
- The company was previously reported to be planning to spend up to $70 billion on AI data centers and infrastructure in 2026.
ByteDance, the Chinese tech company behind TikTok, has signed a $29.6 billion loan agreement with more than 20 banks. The deal was signed last week and reported by Bloomberg on Monday.
ByteDance, the developer of TikTok, has signed a $29.6 billion loan with more than two dozens lenders, including ICBC and HSBC https://t.co/Y7kGKkK1cL
— Bloomberg (@business) September 14, 2026
The loan is the second-largest dollar-denominated deal in Asia this year, trailing only SoftBank’s $40 billion arrangement from March. Twenty-eight banks participated, with some committing through different branches or subsidiaries.
State-backed lenders carried the bulk of the financing. Fifteen government-backed banks pledged a combined $18.9 billion, accounting for 64% of the total. ICBC committed $3 billion, Bank of China put in $2.5 billion, and China Construction Bank contributed $1.5 billion.
HSBC was the top foreign lender, contributing $1.5 billion to the deal.
ByteDance had originally sought $20 billion. The final loan came in nearly $10 billion higher, pointing to strong appetite from lenders.
Strong Lender Confidence
The pricing on the loan backs that up. ByteDance is borrowing at just 0.68 percentage points above the prevailing benchmark rate. SoftBank’s loan, by comparison, was priced at 2.5 percentage points above the benchmark, reflecting a higher risk profile.
The company was valued at roughly $550 billion in February. It previously raised $10.8 billion from about 20 lenders in 2024.
ByteDance said it plans to use the funds for general corporate purposes. But the timing lines up with the company’s known AI buildout plans.
Bloomberg reported in May that ByteDance was considering spending as much as $70 billion in 2026 on data centers and AI infrastructure.
AI Spending Race Continues
The deal lands as the broader AI spending race heats up. A Bitcoin Suisse report forecasts that the largest U.S. hyperscalers will spend more than $800 billion on AI this year, with that figure expected to top $1 trillion in 2027.
The loan also comes as some prominent AI voices are calling for a slowdown. Elon Musk, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have all raised safety concerns about the pace of AI development.
A former Anthropic researcher cited concerns that AI could pose risks to human life, a position later echoed by Anthropic’s alignment lead, who put the odds of a catastrophic AI outcome at 10%.
ByteDance and HSBC had not responded to requests for comment by publication time.
The three-year loan is extendable to up to five years.
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