Rumors Surrounding Elon Musk’s Potential Acquisition of TikTok
This morning (January 14), Bloomberg reported that “China is considering the possibility of Elon Musk buying TikTok in the U.S., if TikTok cannot lift the ban that has been imposed on it in this country.”
For those who may not know, TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, and it has a significant user base in China. Currently, it is one of the most widely used social media platforms, boasting over 170 million users in the U.S. each month. However, recently, TikTok has faced a ban from a U.S. court. The reasoning behind this is due to concerns raised by U.S. officials regarding the potential transfer of TikTok’s user data to the Chinese government, which raises significant privacy and surveillance concerns.
As a result, TikTok is eager to maintain its ownership under ByteDance. However, following substantial resistance from the platform, on January 10, a U.S. court signaled that the ban remains likely to continue. Consequently, high-ranking Chinese officials have begun discussing contingency plans for TikTok’s future in the U.S. One of the points of discussion revolves around Elon Musk’s potential acquisition of TikTok.
According to a discussion held by the Chinese government, Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, would gain control over TikTok (U.S.) and collaborate on managing the business. With over 170 million users in the U.S., TikTok could potentially assist in attracting advertisers for X. As for Elon Musk, he is also reportedly setting up a separate artificial intelligence company, xAI, which could benefit from the vast amount of user data generated on TikTok.
Is the Rumor of Elon Musk Buying TikTok Just Speculation?
However, not long after Bloomberg’s controversial report, Variety confirmed that the rumor regarding this acquisition is entirely unfounded. According to Variety, a representative from TikTok has stated: “We cannot comment on speculative content.” Conversely, Elon Musk’s team has yet to respond regarding Bloomberg’s report on TikTok.
Nevertheless, the rumors mentioned above may not be entirely baseless. The current dynamics suggest that it’s possible that the parties involved might be in talks about the situation.
Source: Bloomberg, Variety
