Gigawatt Predator: ByteDance Consumes 20% of All China’s Data Centers to Develop AI

Energy has definitively become the primary currency of artificial intelligence. On September 28, 2026, the analytical agency SemiAnalysis (via SCMP) published frightening figures: the delivered capacity of all AI data centers in China reached 24 GW. Meanwhile, nearly 20% of this phenomenal volume is consumed by a single corporation—ByteDance.

The parent company of TikTok is aggressively renting and buying up computing power to train its own generative networks, aiming to capture leadership in the global B2C and B2B markets. The figure of 24 GW (which is comparable to the peak consumption of mid-sized European states) proves that the PRC's macroeconomic focus has shifted from manufacturing goods to generating intelligence. The infrastructure boom in Asia is operating at the absolute physical limits of power grids. The winner in the algorithm race will not be the one with the best mathematicians, but the one who can ensure an uninterrupted power supply to its servers from new power plants.

Source: SemiAnalysis / SCMP