ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, will invest more than R$200 billion (US$37.7 billion) in the construction of a data center in Brazil, the company’s first project in Latin America.
TikTok will partner with data center developer Omnia and Casa dos Ventos, one of the country’s main renewable energy suppliers, on a project in Ceará, said Monica Guise, head of public policy at TikTok Brazil, this Wednesday (3). The data center, which will be installed near the Port of Pecém, will operate entirely with wind energy, he said.
“This is a historic investment for the company in Brazil,” said Guise at an event in Ceará with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. “It is an important step that reflects the company’s commitment to Brazil, one of the most dynamic digital markets in the world.”
Brazil is seen as the best positioned country in the region to take advantage of the global expansion of investments in AI-focused data centers, as it has multiple sources of renewable energy, an interconnected electrical grid and the largest regional supply of high-capacity fiber optic cables. Pecém is close to a large hub of submarine cables that reach Fortaleza, offering one of the shortest routes from Brazil to Europe and Africa.
Investments in Pecém are part of Lula’s broader ambitions related to artificial intelligence. In September, he signed a provisional measure to offer incentives to companies wanting to build data centers in Brazil, including the possibility of importing some equipment tax-free.
“I am convinced that this data center will be something extraordinary for the technological development of this country,” said Lula after the announcement. “It can serve as an example for other data centers in other parts of the country.”
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US-China conflict
TikTok is deepening its ties in Brazil as the company has yet to come up with a plan to save its service from being blocked in the US. The Chinese government promised a month ago to work with Washington to resolve the fate of TikTok’s U.S. business, but has not supported a deal being promoted by President Donald Trump to spin off the ByteDance jewel into a new company controlled mainly by American investors.
Under a US security law signed last year by then-President Joe Biden — the Protecting Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act — Beijing-based ByteDance was ordered to sell TikTok in the US or face a ban in the country. The initial deadline was January 2025, but Trump extended it several times in an attempt to reach a deal.
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