TikTok has said it may sell its US business to X owner. Elon Musk are “pure fiction”.
According to Bloomberg News, officials in China – Home of TikTok’s parent firm The Bite Dance – Billionaire X’s owner is considering a possible sale if it can’t get the US ban lifted.
But in response to the reports, a TikTok spokesperson said: “We cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
TikTok is facing a ban in the US. Since January 19, US national security concerns about China and its perceived potential influence over TikTok – something the company has always denied.
ByteDance has been asked to either sell TikTok’s US business or face a ban on the app in the United States.
Chinese officials are now in preliminary discussions about a possible sale to Mr. Musk if the firm is unable to circumvent the ban, the report said.
It said the social media giant’s US business could be sold either through a competitive process or through a Chinese government arrangement, suggesting the app’s future is no longer solely in ByteDance’s hands.
Incoming US President Donald Trump His administration has advised against the ban, but he entered office after it took effect.
He has called for the deadline to be pushed back to give him time to negotiate a “political resolution”.
During a hearing on the matter last week, the US Supreme Court appeared inclined to uphold the ban, with judges convinced by arguments that the company’s ties to China posed a national security threat to TikTok or speech. Eliminates concerns about banning. It has 170 million users in the US.
ByteDance previously said it would not sell the short-form video platform, but some investors are eyeing it, including Mr. Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and billionaire businessman Frank McCourt.
TikTok has previously been banned from official devices in the UK and some other countries amid concerns about ByteDance’s links to China.