The bankers definitely want in despite this being a heavy lift because the fees on an estimated $20-plus billion deal could be pretty rich.

ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, has earmarked over 150 billion yuan ($20.64 billion) in capital expenditure for this year, much of which will be centred on artificial intelligence, two people briefed on the matter said.

The Chinese unicorn’s Seed Edge programme reflects its aggressive investment strategy, as other major tech firms push their AI initiatives.

TikTok parent ByteDance is asking Chinese employees at its Singapore headquarters to pay tax to their home country or risk losing their ability to cash out on stock options, as Beijing steps up enforcement of its global tax scheme.

ByteDance released Doubao-1.5-pro, an upgrade to its flagship AI model, which it claims outperforms OpenAI's o1 in AIME.

This significant investment demonstrates ByteDance's commitment to becoming a major player in the global AI landscape, even as the company grapples with uncertainty surrounding TikTok's future in the United States.

WASHINGTON – General Atlantic CEO Bill Ford said on Wednesday that a deal would get done to save TikTok in the U.S. after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that halted a ban on the app for 75 days.

TikTok’s parent company ByteDance Ltd. has set aside 150 billion yuan ($20.64 billion) for its capital expenditure this year, and the bulk of that money will be spent on boosting its artificial intelligence capabilities, Reuters reported today.

The app, which was set to be banned, now has a bit more time to find a home and address national security issues

On Tuesday, the first trading day following the inauguration, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA rose 1.2% and the S&P 500 SPX climbed 0.9% as investors welcomed Trump's calmer-than-expected tone on tariffs. The S&P 500 hit its first record close of his second term on Thursday.

Content creator Jimmy Donaldson, known on the Internet as MrBeast, has made it clear he is interested in buying TikTok. Donaldson has the most subscribers of any user on YouTube— over 340 million—and boasts over 113 million TikTok followers.