ByteDance – the parent company of TikTok and Douyin – has become China’s top tech investor in 2024, with capital expenditures close to 80 billion yuan (around US$11 billion), according to a report by China’s Zheshang Securities.

ByteDance’s capital spending – which nearly matches the combined investments of Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent at 100 billion yuan (around US$13.7 billion) – includes various technologies, particularly AI.

However, its specific AI investment figures were not disclosed in the report.

In contrast, Microsoft spent US$44.5 billion on capital in 2024, highlighting the disparity in financial resources between Chinese and US tech companies.