TikTok’s owner is raking in cash

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TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, saw a 60% revenue increase in 2023, Bloomberg reported.
TikTok has driven ByteDance’s recent success, allowing it to break into global e-commerce markets.
This growth came as Congress debated, and then passed, a bill that could ban TikTok in the US.

Revenue to ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, grew by about 60% last year, blowing its competition out of the water.

The company’s earnings jumped from $25 billion in 2022 to $40 billion in 2023, Bloomberg reported.

That success was powered by “TikTok Shop,” which helped ByteDance, a Chinese company, break into international e-commerce markets in the United States and Southeast Asia.

While driving record revenues, TikTok’s success also drew the attention of the US Congress, however. After a lengthy debate, American lawmakers passed a bill in March that would force ByteDance — or any company owned by a “foreign adversary” — to shut down TikTok in the United States unless it sells the division to an American company. ByteDance will likely challenge any forced sale in court.

Experts say a TikTok ban could hurt President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign as members of Congress are getting pushback from their kids who use the app. Former President Donald Trump initially pushed for a TikTok ban while in office, but reversed course last month, saying that a ban would “make Facebook bigger.”

“I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people,” he said.

News of ByteDance’s growth follows revelations that the company was using OpenAI’s technology to help build its own AI chatbot. The AI community greeted the revelation with dismay. It also violated OpenAI’s terms of service, The Verge reported.

ByteDance did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider on Wednesday.