[ByteDance Plans to Raise $20 Billion, Setting Record for Largest Offshore Loan] According to monitoring by Beating and reports from Bloomberg citing sources familiar with the matter, ByteDance is in preliminary talks with banks to secure a syndicated loan of approximately $20 billion. If successful, this would mark ByteDance's largest offshore loan to date. The loan is expected to have a three-year term, with an option to extend to five years. Currently, the fundraising discussions are still in the early stages, and specific terms and the intended use of funds may be subject to adjustments. ByteDance has yet to respond. ByteDance is currently evaluating plans to increase this year's capital expenditures to as much as $70 billion, primarily for expanding data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure. If favorable business and economic conditions persist, capital expenditures could rise to $100 billion next year. For comparison, the combined capital expenditure plans of the four leading U.S. tech giants—Amazon, Alphabet (Google's parent company), Microsoft, and Meta—amount to a staggering $725 billion this year, with a similar focus on AI data center equipment. SoftBank Group recently secured a $40 billion bridge loan to fund its investment in OpenAI. ByteDance's last entry into the global loan market was in 2024, when it raised $10.8 billion through more than 20 domestic and international banks. Over the past year, ByteDance has divested from businesses such as gaming to raise funds and focus on its core areas of artificial intelligence and social media. [Original Link]