TikTok owner ByteDance accounts for around one-fifth of China’s data center capacity, according to SemiAnalysis. Its analysis of 1,000 data centers and 60 providers found China has more than 24GW of operational capacity, a 20GW pipeline, and another 30GW in announced projects. Nearly all of ByteDance’s estimated capacity is leased, though its exact footprint remains unclear because the company is privately held.
ByteDance’s estimated footprint exceeds those of Alibaba Cloud, Tencent, Baidu, and Huawei. Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu combine owned and leased facilities, while Huawei relies mainly on self-built data centers. SemiAnalysis estimates Chinese hyperscalers’ overseas leased capacity will reach around 4GW and double between 2026 and 2029. Earlier this year, ByteDance reportedly signed a 500MW data center deal with Vnet and planned a $614 million AI data center in Shanxi province.
In September 2026, ByteDance was reportedly in talks with local providers to secure 5-6GW of compute capacity in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia. It also uses a Chindata facility near Datong, Shanxi province.
Outside China, ByteDance works with providers in Malaysia, Singapore, Norway, and Finland, while exploring projects in Thailand, Brazil, and Australia. TikTok uses Oracle data centers in Texas. Beyond TikTok, ByteDance operates Volcano Engine, a cloud computing business.