ByteDance tritt in die Lithium-Ionen-Batterie-Branche ein: Ein Zusammenstoß zwischen einem Tech-Riesen und der Energiewende

While the outside world is still focused on ByteDance's business areas in short - video and information distribution, this technology giant with a market value of over $250 billion has quietly opened the doors to the lithium - battery industry. In September 2025, ByteDance's job board posted a position for a "Battery R & D Expert" and offered a high salary of "40,000 - 70,000 yuan · 15 - month salary" (annual salary of 600,000 - 1.05 million yuan). It clearly requires that applicants have a doctoral degree and at least five years of experience in the R & D of core materials for lithium batteries or battery systems. At the same time, the "Announcement for the Search of Energy - Management Solutions for Photovoltaic - Storage Microgrids in Douyin Group's Data Centers" was released. It is planned to build a lithium - battery storage microgrid system with a capacity of over 200 MWh. This series of actions is not a random experiment, but a strategic adventure of the algorithm empire in the wave of the energy transition, based on political, technological, and ecological logics.

01

ByteDance's Ambitions for Cross - Industry Expansion:

Strategic Adventure from the Algorithm Empire to the Energy Game Plan

ByteDance's planning in the lithium - battery industry is by no means an imitation of the "new - energy trend", but the result of the resonance of three factors: political advantages, technological synergy, and ecological closed - loop. Every step aims at "long - term energy planning" rather than short - term profits.

1. Political Advantages and Market Demand: Meeting the "Golden Window" of the Energy Transition

Under China's "Dual - Carbon" goal, the lithium battery, as the core carrier of the new - energy industry, has formed a dual - drive model of "Policy + Demand". According to data from the China Association of Chemical and Physical Power Sources, the global supply volume of lithium batteries from January to September 2025 was 1,758 GWh, a year - on - year increase of 142.3%. Among them, China's supply volume was 1,231 GWh, accounting for 70% of the global volume. In the segment industries, the demand for traction batteries for new - energy vehicles in China was 602 GWh, a year - on - year increase of 38.5%, and the demand for energy - storage lithium batteries was 165 GWh, a 210% increase compared with the previous year. The sum of the two demands accounts for 62% of the total supply volume of lithium batteries in China.

At the political level, the "New - Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021 - 2035)" stipulates that "the proportion of new - energy vehicle sales in new - car sales should reach about 25% in 2025". By September 2025, the penetration rate of new - energy vehicles in China had already reached 48.2%, exceeding the target ahead of schedule. The "Special Action Plan for the Scaled - up Development of New - Energy Storage (2025 - 2027)" even requires that "the installed capacity of new - energy storage should exceed 180 million kilowatts by 2027", which further expands the market space for energy - storage lithium batteries. ByteDance is precisely targeting the core multi - billion - dollar market in the transition from "fossil - energy dominance" to "new - energy dominance" in the energy mix in the next 10 years.

2. Technological Synergy: AI Algorithms Break the "Efficiency Barrier" in Lithium - Battery R & D

ByteDance's core competence - the ability in AI algorithms and big - data processing - is a perfect fit for the core problems in lithium - battery R & D. Traditional lithium - battery R & D (such as optimizing electrolyte composition and selecting electrode materials) relies on the "trial - and - error method". The time from laboratory research to mass production of a new battery model averages 3 - 5 years. Just the material - selection step can take several months. However, with ByteDance's "AI + High - Throughput Computing" model, this cycle can be significantly shortened.

According to an internal researcher at ByteDance, the company has established an "AI - Enabled Lithium - Battery Materials R & D Laboratory" with the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The developed "LASI - 80Si - AI Model for Solid Electrolytes" can simulate the interface reaction between the electrolyte and the electrode through machine learning. Within 80 hours, 32 million material combinations are screened, and finally three high - performance candidate materials are determined. However, with the traditional experimental method, the same screening task would take more than six months. This "computation - driven R & D" logic is in good agreement with ByteDance's experience in "data iteration" in short - video recommendation and advertising algorithms, forming a natural technological transfer advantage.

3. Ecological Closed - Loop: Meeting Self - Demand and Expanding Business Boundaries

Planning in the lithium - battery industry is essentially a key component for ByteDance to improve its "Digital Service + Physical Hardware" ecosystem. On the one hand, ByteDance's businesses have an urgent demand for energy and batteries. In the third quarter of 2025, the global data centers of ByteDance consumed 1.86 billion kilowatt - hours of electricity. If a 200 - MWh storage microgrid is installed, electricity costs can be reduced by 15% - 20% by taking advantage of the price difference between peak and off - peak hours and having an emergency power supply. At the same time, the requirements for carbon - emission reduction are met. The drones under development (for Douyin's e - commerce logistics) and humanoid robots (for the maintenance of livestream bases) have a high demand for high - energy - density batteries. In 2024, China's leading battery suppliers raised prices for large customers by 18%. In - house battery development can reduce supply - chain costs by over 30%.

On the other hand, the lithium - battery business can expand business boundaries. Volcengine (ByteDance's enterprise - service segment) can sell its "AI - Storage Management System" to other data centers and commercial customers. Douyin's e - commerce marketplace can create a sales space for "New - Energy Products + Energy - Storage Services" and form a closed - loop of "Energy Supply - Digital Service - Business Operation".

02

The Fierce Battlefield of the Lithium - Battery Industry:

Attacking and Defending Battles and Survival Logic between Old and New Forces

ByteDance's entry into the lithium - battery market has brought this already highly competitive market into the phase of "Multipolarity Game". Traditional battery giants, Internet competitors, and emerging startups are engaging in differentiated competition based on their own strengths.

1. Internet Giants: Different Paths, Different Positions

It has become a trend for technology giants to enter the new - energy industry. But their planning paths are significantly different, and all avoid direct confrontation with traditional battery manufacturers. Huawei Digital Power focuses on "Intelligent Photovoltaic - Storage System Solutions". In the third quarter of 2025, the supply volume of photovoltaic - storage systems was 12.5 GWh. Its core competence lies in "Grid - Dispatch Algorithms + Hardware Integration". Tencent plans through "Capital + Ecosystem". It has invested in a total of 12 companies in the lithium - battery industry (including the solid - state battery startup QuantumScape) and mainly bets on cutting - edge technology. Alibaba Cloud is involved in the "Intelligent Energy - Management Platform" and provides data - monitoring and optimization services for over 500 energy - storage power plants.

In contrast to these companies, ByteDance is the only Internet giant that "directly dives into the R & D and production of lithium batteries". It not only recruits high - quality core R & D talents with high salaries but also plans to build pilot battery production lines in Anhui and Guangdong. The goal is to start small - scale production of solid - state batteries in 2026 and achieve a leapfrog development through "innovation in basic technology" rather than "ecosystem enablement".

2. Traditional Giants: Deep Barriers, but Challenges in R & D Efficiency

Traditional market leaders such as CATL and BYD have built triple barriers in "Technology + Capacity + Customers" that are difficult to overcome in the short term. Data shows that in the third quarter of 2025, CATL's global market share in traction batteries was 37.8%, and BYD's was 28.5%. Together, they accounted for 66.3% of the market. In terms of R & D investment, CATL invested 6.2 billion yuan in research in the first half of 2025. The released condensed battery has an energy density of 500 Wh/kg and is already being tested in the NIO ET Preview. BYD's Blade Battery is now also being supplied to Tesla. Its factory in Hungary (capacity 20 GWh) was put into operation in September 2025, accelerating global expansion.

But traditional giants also face the challenge of "R & D efficiency". According to a company executive at a leading battery manufacturer, it takes an average of 38 months from laboratory research to mass production of a new battery model, while ByteDance claims it can shorten this cycle to 12 months. In addition, the products of traditional companies mainly focus on "New - Energy Vehicles + Large - Scale Energy Storage". However, their ability to produce customized products for niche markets such as "data centers and robots" is insufficient. This is precisely the breakthrough point for ByteDance.

3. Emerging Companies: Specialization in Niche Markets, Survival in the Gap

Solid - state battery startups such as ProLogium Technology and Weilan New Energy were supported by investors due to their "technological foresight". But in 2024, the financing volume in the industry decreased by 23%, and in the third quarter of 2025, it dropped to 8.5 billion yuan. The survival pressure has increased. Facing the pressure from giants, these companies are turning to niche markets to break through.

Weilan New Energy focuses on "Semi - Solid - State Batteries + Consumer Electronics". In the third quarter of 2025, the supply volume of semi - solid - state batteries to Xiaomi and Huawei was 1.2 GWh. The unit price is 25% higher than that of traditional lithium batteries, and the profit margin is 32%.

ProLogium Technology bets on "Space - Grade Solid - State Batteries" and supplies satellite - energy - storage batteries for Chinese private space - flight companies. Although the supply volume is small (0.3 GWh in the third quarter), the technological barrier is high and the competition is low.

For emerging companies, ByteDance's entry is both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is that ByteDance's capital and technology advantages could accelerate industry consolidation. The opportunity is that ByteDance's AI R & D platform may be opened for cooperation, thus improving R & D efficiency.

Reference Data on Industry Structure

03

Future Trends and Solutions:

Changes and Opportunities in the Lithium - Battery Industry

ByteDance's cross - industry planning is essentially a reflection of the transformation of the lithium - battery industry from "single - material competition" to "technology fusion + scenario re - orientation + global competition and cooperation". At the crossroads of 2025, three major trends in the industry have become clear, and all stakeholders must find corresponding solutions.

1. Trend 1: Technology Fusion, Interdisciplinary Innovation Becomes the Core Competence

Lithium - battery technology is evolving from the "iteration of liquid batteries" to the "development of solid - state batteries". More importantly, there is a interdisciplinary fusion of "materials science + physics + computer science". According to BNEF forecasts, the global supply volume of solid - state batteries will reach 614 GWh by 2030, accounting for 15% of the total supply volume of lithium batteries. But problems such as the interface stability and cost control of solid - state batteries must be jointly solved through the optimization of AI algorithms and the R & D of new materials.

In the future, it will be difficult for companies with only a single material technology to gain a foothold. "AI R & D Platform + High - Throughput Laboratory" will become the industry standard. This is where ByteDance's advantage lies. Traditional battery manufacturers must accelerate cooperation with technology companies to close the algorithm gap. Emerging companies can focus on "