The Chinese government is considering a plan for Elon Musk to acquire TikTok's U.S. business, Bloomberg News reported Monday.

Summary

China is reportedly considering a plan for Elon Musk to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations to avoid a potential ban, according to Bloomberg.

The move would satisfy a U.S. law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok by Jan. 19 due to national security concerns.

If not resolved, U.S. service providers supporting TikTok could face penalties.

The plan, still preliminary, would have Musk oversee TikTok U.S. alongside X.

ByteDance’s awareness of the plan is unclear.

    • minnow@lemmy.world
      0·
      2 days ago

      It’s standard procedure to deny that a sale is happening untill the moment of no return because public reactions to the sale can impact negotiations. Rumors like the are denied no matter what, even if they’re true.

      So we can’t believe them, but we also can’t say for sure their lying. Basically we just have to wait and see.

    • usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml
      0·
      2 days ago

      Article seems to suggest that the government might be trying to make these plans without ByteDance’s knowledge

      It’s unclear whether ByteDance knows about the Chinese government’s plans and TikTok and Musk’s involvement in the discussions, the report said. Senior Chinese officials are debating contingency plans involving TikTok’s future in the U.S. as part of larger discussions about working with President-elect Donald Trump, the report added.

      A TikTok spokesperson said in an email to CNBC, “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.” X didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.