(Dec 3): ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok will invest more than 200 billion reais (US$37.7 billion) to build a data centre in Brazil, marking its first project in Latin America.
TikTok will partner with data centre developer Omnia and Casa dos Ventos, one of Brazil’s leading renewable energy providers, in a data centre in the northeastern state of Ceara, Monica Guise, head of public policy at TikTok Brazil, said on Wednesday. The project, which will be developed near the industrial port of Pecém, will fully rely on clean energy from wind energy parks, she added.
“This is a historic investment for the company in Brazil,” Guise said at an event in Ceará with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “It’s a key step that reflects the company’s commitment with Brazil, one of the most dynamic digital markets in the world.”
Brazil is considered the best-positioned country in the region to tap into the global boom in data-centre investing to power artificial intelligence because it has numerous sources of renewable energy, an interconnected national grid, and the most high-speed fibre optic cables in the region. Pecem is close to a major hub for submarine cables that land at the city of Fortaleza, which provide one of the shortest routes from Brazil to Europe and Africa.
In an interview with a local television network earlier on Wednesday, Lula said the investment would trigger “a revolution here in the state of Ceará”.
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