ByteDance plans to raise $20 billion, setting a record for the largest offshore loan.

According to Beating, Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that ByteDance is in preliminary talks with banks to raise approximately $20 billion in syndicated loans. If finalized, this would be ByteDance's largest offshore loan ever. The loan is expected to have a three-year term with an option to extend it to five years. The fundraising negotiations are still in the early stages, and specific terms and uses of funds may be subject to change. ByteDance has not yet responded. ByteDance is currently assessing increasing its capital expenditures this year to a maximum of $70 billion, primarily for expanding data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure. If the business and economic environment remains favorable, capital expenditures could climb to $100 billion next year. In comparison, the four leading US tech giants—Amazon, Alphabet (Google's parent company), Microsoft, and Meta—plan a total of $725 billion in capital expenditures this year, also focusing on artificial intelligence data center equipment. SoftBank Group recently secured a $40 billion bridge loan to finance its investment in OpenAI. ByteDance last entered the global lending market in 2024, when it raised $10.8 billion through more than 20 Chinese and foreign banks. Over the past year, ByteDance has successively spun off businesses such as gaming to raise funds to focus on its core artificial intelligence and social media.