[NEW YORK] ByteDance’s TikTok will invest more than 200 billion reais (S$49 billion) to build a data centre in Brazil, marking its first project in Latin America.
TikTok will partner with data centre developer Omnia and Casa dos Ventos, one of Brazil’s leading renewable energy providers, in a data centre in the northeastern state of Ceara, Monica Guise, head of public policy at TikTok Brazil, said on Wednesday (Dec 3).
The project, which will be developed near the industrial port of Pecém, will fully rely on clean energy from wind energy parks, she added.
“This is a historic investment for the company in Brazil,” Guise said at an event in Ceará with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “It’s a key step that reflects the company’s commitment with Brazil, one of the most dynamic digital markets in the world.”
Brazil is considered the best-positioned country in the region to tap into the global boom in data-centre investing to power AI because it has numerous sources of renewable energy, an interconnected national grid, and the most high-speed fiber optic cables in the region.
Pecém is close to a major hub for submarine cables that land at the city of Fortaleza, which provide one of the shortest routes from Brazil to Europe and Africa.
The Pecém investments are part of Lula’s broader ambitions related to artificial intelligence. He signed in September a provisional measure to offer incentives to companies looking to build data centres in Brazil, including allowing businesses to import some equipment tax-free.
“I’m convinced this data centre will be something extraordinary for the technological development of this country,” Lula said after the announcement. “It could serve as an example for other data centres in other parts of the country.”
US-China spat
TikTok is deepening ties in Brazil as the company has failed thus far to come up with a plan to save its service from being blocked in the US.
The Chinese government pledged a month ago to work with Washington to resolve the fate of TikTok’s US business but stopped short of supporting a deal that’s been touted by President Donald Trump to spinoff ByteDance’s crown jewel into a new venture owned mainly by American investors.
Under a US security law signed last year by then-President Joe Biden – the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act – Beijing-based ByteDance was ordered to either sell TikTok US or face a ban in the country.
The initial deadline was in January 2025, but Trump has extended it multiple times in an effort to reach a deal. BLOOMBERG
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