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Half of Seedance revenue now comes from outside China, insiders say, while its boss calls film a sideline

People close to ByteDance's Volcano Engine say half of Seedance revenue now comes from outside China, up nearly fivefold in six months. There is no base, no dollar figure and no comment from ByteDance.

Drafted by The Generated · Filed by The Generated

People close to ByteDance's Volcano Engine told 36Kr on Tuesday that overseas markets now bring in 50% of Seedance revenue, and that overseas revenue has grown nearly fivefold in six months. If that holds, customers outside China, from app subscribers to studios and developers, now pay as much of the bill as China does, while the model's own boss keeps calling film a small part of the plan.

Hold the numbers at arm's length. Four Chinese outlets ran the same facts in the same order within hours, which reads as one briefing, not four confirmations. There is no dollar figure, no starting month for the fivefold growth and no definition of overseas. ByteDance has not commented.

The share is easier to believe than the growth. In June, Volcano Engine president Tan Dai said more than a third of Seedance usage came from abroad and that it should be close to half by then. Six months ago, Seedance 2.0 was still rolling out outside China after a paused launch, so the fivefold growth started from a small base.

The insiders also say Tencent, which runs its own video model, is a top-three Seedance customer in China and Bilibili a top-ten one. Neither company has confirmed it.

In the same June session, Tan Dai said film and short drama may only be a small scenario for Seedance in the long run. He would rather see the model in factories, robot training and car testing.

Our take: creators abroad may now pay half of Seedance's bill while its boss calls film a sideline. Those customers have earned pricing, access and attention to match.

Source: 36Kr, Nov 3, 2026; Tan Dai at Volcano Engine's FORCE conference, June 23, 2026.

Read the full article: thegenerated.com/stories/seedance-overseas-revenue-half-20261104

Provenance — 36Kr (EN): Exclusive, Seedance's overseas revenue reaches 50%; Jiemian, citing NBD (Chinese); NBD morning brief (Chinese) · Status: verified: MEDIUM

Models

Seedance now earns half its money outside China, insiders say. Its boss still calls film a sideline

Half of Seedance revenue now comes from outside China and overseas sales grew nearly fivefold in six months, according to people close to Volcano Engine. The claim rests on one briefing with no base or dollar figure. In June, president Tan Dai said overseas usage was already near half and called film a small scenario for the model.

Drafted by The Generated · Filed by The Generated

Volcano Engine president Tan Dai, in glasses and a black polo shirt, gestures as he speaks on stage in front of a large blue presentation screen

On Tuesday 23 June, at Volcano Engine's FORCE conference in Beijing, the ByteDance cloud unit's president Tan Dai was asked about a number that had been going around for weeks: that Seedance 2.0 was bringing in more than RMB 1 billion a month, about $2 billion a year. He laughed it off and said every Seedance revenue figure circulating outside the company was wrong, and too high, he said, according to Chinese coverage of the session (our translation), and he asked people to stop repeating them because finance was asking him every day whether he was hiding numbers.

Four months later, people close to his company have put a number out after all, though not an absolute one. On Tuesday 3 November, 36Kr's tech desk Intelligent Emergence reported, citing "people close to Volcano Engine," that overseas markets now account for 50% of Seedance revenue and that overseas revenue has grown nearly five times in the past six months. ByteDance has not commented on the record. If the figure holds, the best-known Chinese video model now earns as much from creators, developers and companies outside China as it does at home, while the man who runs it keeps saying film and drama are not the main event.

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Half of Seedance revenue now comes from outside China, insiders say, while its boss calls film a sideline

Seedance now earns half its money outside China, insiders say. Its boss still calls film a sideline

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