As a fresh reminder, TikTok by ByteDance could potentially be shut down in the US if the company is not sold by 19 January 2025. That's basically next Monday if nothing is done, just before President-elect Donald Trump returns to office.
However, new reports say that Chinese officials are mulling a potential sale of TikTok to Elon Musk in the US. According to sources, one of the scenarios being discussed in Beijing could be combining TikTok's operations into X, formerly Twitter. Bloomberg also reported the discussion is "still preliminary" so there is no official word on proceeding with the sale.
That being said, TikTok did not respond to an AFP request for comment. But according to a quote by BBC, a representative told the media "We can't be expected to comment on pure fiction". So at this point, it's safe to take a pinch of salt about this piece of news. While it seems unlikely that Elon Musk would acquire TikTok, never say never because that was what he did to Twitter years ago.
TikTok has been going through a rough patch ever since it was accused of sharing its data with the Chinese government. It all started with the Trump administration and ironically, Trump now has a change of heart requesting the US Supreme Court to postpone the TikTok ban. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was reported to met up with Trump in hopes of reversing the ban in the US.
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