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Okay, there are a lot of gaps in this story right now, and it’s not as simple as some headlines might suggest.
But Chinese government officials are reportedly investigating the possibility Elon Musk takes control of TikTok in the USas a way to keep the app available to US users, should the government’s forced-sale law pass confirmed by the Supreme Court, as expected, this week.
The story first broke late yesterday that Elon might take control of TikTok as an alternative to the quick US ban on TikTok denied the speculationand dismissed the report as “pure fiction”.
But further reporting backed up the concept, noting that neither TikTok itself nor Elon Musk may be involved in a potential deal at this stage, with Chinese government officials apparently pitching the idea as a way to keep the app in the US.
According to new information from BloombergChinese officials, who until now opposed the sale of TikTokdespite what they see as overreach by the US government, they are now investigating the potential of billionaire owner X taking control of the US arm of the app.
According to Bloomberg:
“Under one scenario discussed by the Chinese government, Musk’s X — formerly of Twitter — would take control of TikTok US and run the business together, the people said. With more than 170 million users in the US, TikTok could bolster X’s efforts to attract advertisers. Musk has also founded a separate artificial intelligence company, xAI, which could benefit from the vast amounts of data generated by TikTok.“
The view from Beijing is reportedly that Elon Musk, who already has close cooperation with the Chinese government through his other companies (primarily Tesla), could be considered a reliable intermediary to maintain TikTok in the region, thus keeping the app connected to its 170 million users. in the USA, and meeting the requirements of the US government, in relation to ownership.
It’s pretty unclear at the moment, and Elon Musk himself hasn’t commented on TikTok’s potential takeover. Chinese officials are also not saying anything official at this stage.
TikTok is in the middle right now Appeal from the Supreme Court against the forced sell-off bill of the US government, which does not appear to overturn the order approved by the Senate so far. Which is why Chinese officials are now apparently scrambling for alternatives, and it seems possible at least that a Musk-TikTok partnership could be one avenue they could take.
Which would put Elon at the helm of another major social platform and could have major ramifications for the wider industry.
Again, there is a lot of reading between the lines here and a lot would have to happen for such a deal to happen. But it is possible that Elon Musk could take control of TikTok US, as a compromise for its continued operation.