Beijing-based technology startup ByteDance, parent company of video-sharing app TikTok, intends to expand in Singapore and use the country as a foothold for the rest of Asia, Bloomberg reported.
ByteDance will spend “several billion dollars” setting up a data center and adding “hundreds of jobs” in Singapore. The company is currently looking to hire more than 200 Singapore-based positions, according to its job portal. These also include positions for Thai and Vietnamese speakers, further bolstering ByteDance’s efforts to expand into the region.
In March, the company launched a recruitment drive as part of plans to set up an advertising network center in Singapore. ByteDance’s office collaboration app Feishu, also known as Lark, is headquartered in Singapore. The firm also applied for a digital bank license in the city-state in January.
The move to expand in Singapore comes after TikTok’s ban in India and amidst a potential ban in the United States. Several companies, including Microsoft, Walmart, and Oracle, have been in talks to purchase TikTok’s US operations, but the deal might be stymied by new regulations that restrict Chinese companies from exporting AI technology to non-Chinese companies.
