TikTok is preparing to establish its first data centre in Latin America in Brazil, with a planned investment exceeding 200bn reais ($37.7bn). 

TikTok Brazil's head of public policy, Monica Guise, confirmed that the company intends to work with Omnia, a data centre developer, and Casa dos Ventos, a renewable energy provider, on the new facility in the north-eastern state of Ceará.

The facility is due to be located near the industrial port of Pecém.

Guise noted that the data centre would operate entirely on clean energy sourced from wind energy parks.

According to Bloomberg, Guise said at an event in Ceará attended by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva: “This is a historic investment for the company in Brazil.

“It is a key step that reflects the company’s commitment to Brazil, one of the most dynamic digital markets in the world.”

In April, Reuters reported, citing sources, that ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is considering a substantial investment to develop a data centre in Brazil.

China is Brazil’s leading trading partner, and this development comes as Beijing seeks to expand its presence in Latin America amid ongoing trade tensions with the US.

TikTok has been increasing its regional data-hosting initiatives amid concerns over data security.

The company began construction of a data centre in Finland last year to store European user data.

In the US, Oracle has been providing cloud services for TikTok. Oracle’s servers store the US user data, and are designed to keep it separate and private from ByteDance staff in China.

The Pecém site is located near a major hub for submarine cables that arrive in Fortaleza city.

The investment aligns with President Lula’s wider AI development goals. In September, Lula signed a provisional measure to incentivise data centre construction in Brazil, including provisions for tax-free equipment imports.

TikTok’s expansion in Brazil comes as the company faces challenges in the US, where it has yet to present a plan to prevent a potential ban.

The Chinese Government recently indicated a willingness to work with Washington regarding TikTok’s US business, but did not endorse a proposed deal for ByteDance to spin off TikTok into a new US-owned venture.

Under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, signed by former US President Joe Biden in 2024, ByteDance was ordered to divest TikTok’s US operations or face a ban, with an initial deadline in January 2025.

This deadline has been extended several times by President Donald Trump to allow time for negotiations.

In September, President Trump authorised the continued operation of TikTok in the US after signing an executive order mandating changes to the platform’s US ownership and operations.