TikTok's U.S. arm is seeking huge amounts of computing power

TikTok's U.S. business is looking to secure a very large amount of computing power, CNBC reports. One source says the target is four gigawatts by the early 2030s. A gigawatt is a measure of electrical power, used here to describe how much computing the company wants to run.

What is going on

The company is officially called TikTok USDS Joint Venture. It operates TikTok in the U.S. and has sounded out ways to get capacity over the coming years, according to two people familiar with the talks. Companies worldwide are racing for more computing power as AI work grows. A spokesperson said TikTok runs mainly on Oracle's cloud in the U.S. and that Oracle will stay its primary provider.

A job ad hints at what the power could be for. TikTok says it is "shipping a flagship B2B AI product at the frontier of large-model inference and creative automation." B2B means a product sold to businesses.

Background

The venture was set up in 2026 under an executive order from President Donald Trump requiring TikTok's U.S. business to separate from its Chinese parent, ByteDance. Silver Lake, Oracle and MGX each hold 15%. ByteDance kept 19.9%. In January, the company said it would retrain its recommendation algorithm on U.S. user data.

What is not known

The sources did not say which providers are involved, what it would cost, or whether the four gigawatt goal is firm. The business AI product has no announced name or launch date. CNBC has asked Oracle for comment.