Microsoft is looking to be the American corporation to acquire TikTok. This acquisition is however not of TikTok globally but its operations in the United States.
The move comes as a result of the US government insisting that the popular short-video app could be a tool of espionage in the hands of Chinese authorities. This is considering the amount of user personal data available to the developers.
President Trump had publicly spoken of banning the app outright in the United States. However, he has soft-pedalled on this stance by giving a September 15 deadline for the company’s sale or shut down.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is engaged in discussions with ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company) and President Trump. He has however gone on record to state a lack of assurance that the takeover would eventually be successful. No further updates are expected from Microsoft until there is a definite outcome to these discussions.
Apple has also been mooted as potential buyers of the Social Media app– Microsoft are, however, clear frontrunners.
How is ByteDance Taking the Hit?
Zhang Yiming, the founder of ByteDance has conceded to the idea of the sale. The app does not aim to lose a subscriber base of over 100 million active users.
“It feels like the goal was not necessarily a forced sale, but given the current macro situation, a ban or even more.”
While Yiming must feel gutted to be strong-armed into a sale, he sees it as better than having to shut down its entire service in the US.
He has publicly stated that the total closure of TikTok in the US seemed to be the goal of the US government.
The relationship between the US and China has become increasingly frosty in recent times. This increasing animosity between both countries has led to an embargo on sales of Huawei phones in the US.
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