Trump Says Microsoft in Talks to Buy TikTok

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By Epiphanus Obia

U.S. President Donald Trump has revealed that Microsoft is currently in talks to acquire TikTok. Trump also expressed interest in seeing a bidding war for the app, which has become hugely popular in the U.S. and around the world.

Microsoft has yet to comment on the discussions, and TikTok, along with its parent company ByteDance, did not respond to requests for comment.

TikTok, with about 170 million users in the U.S., was briefly taken offline just before a law requiring its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to either sell the app or face a potential ban was about to take effect on January 19.

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After being sworn in on January 20, Trump signed an executive order delaying the law’s enforcement for 75 days.

In a statement last week, Trump shared that he was in talks with various parties regarding the potential purchase of TikTok and that a decision on its future could be made within the next 30 days.

Trump also mentioned that billionaire Elon Musk could be a potential buyer if he was interested, although Musk has not publicly commented on the matter.

In a surprising development, AI startup Perplexity AI proposed a merger with TikTok on Sunday, offering the U.S. government up to half of the new company in the future, according to sources.

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This marks the second time Microsoft has been involved in talks to acquire TikTok. Back in 2020, Microsoft was one of the top contenders to buy the app, but those discussions eventually fell through. Trump’s push for a sale ended when he left office, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella later described the deal as “the strangest thing I’ve ever worked on.”

As the situation unfolds, it remains to be seen what the future holds for TikTok and its ownership.

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