ByteDance's Net Profit Drops Over 70% as AI Investment Soars, Overseas Revenue Hits New High
Sources reveal that ByteDance's 2025 net profit decreased by more than 70% year-on-year, with a significant drop in net profit margin, due to a substantial increase in investment in AI businesses in the third and fourth quarters of last year. Simultaneously, ByteDance's overseas revenue grew nearly 50% in 2025, significantly exceeding the domestic growth of approximately 20%, with the proportion of overseas revenue rising from 25% in 2024 to over 30%, reaching a new high.
It is reported that TikTok Shop's 2025 GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) increased by nearly 70% year-on-year, being the main driving force behind the increase in ByteDance's overseas revenue proportion.
However, ByteDance declined to comment on the above data.
Over the past year, ByteDance has been continuously active in the AI field, with Doubao Assistant achieving iterative upgrades in multi-modal generation, AI programming, and intelligent agent interaction. Volcanic Engine's MaaS business has become the fastest-growing sector, and its large model training efficiency and inference performance remain in the leading tier of the industry.
Notably, earlier in January 2025, reports indicated that ByteDance would allocate capital expenditure exceeding 150 billion yuan (US$20.64 billion) in 2025, with the majority concentrated on artificial intelligence (AI).
By the end of 2025, sources revealed that ByteDance plans to invest 160 billion yuan (approximately US$22.74 billion) in artificial intelligence infrastructure construction in 2026.