In early May 2026, ByteDance's board agreed to postpone the company's initial public offering. Founder Zhang Yiming reportedly believes the valuation can still climb higher, and that going public now would hand too much profit to late-stage, risk-free investors.
Currently, ByteDance is trading at over $600 billion on the gray market. A senior tech investment banker at Bank of America says the company's market cap could approach $1 trillion, setting a new industry benchmark.
Policy and geopolitical risks have eased. In early 2026, Oracle and an investor consortium reached a deal to acquire 80% of TikTok's US entity, largely clearing regulatory pressure.
On the AI front, Doubao — China's largest chat assistant by user base — is adding paid tiers on top of its free service.