A fresh report today has claimed that Microsoft may be holding discussions to buy the U.S. operations of TikTok from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. The report has surfaced amid speculations that President Donald Trump is planning to order ByteDance to sell off the music-video platform to a U.S. company, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Fox Business Network reporter Charles Gasparino broke the news on Friday. He also cited sources saying the Trump administration is concerned over the prospect of Microsoft buying TikTok and whether TikTok's Chinese investors will continue to hold stakes in the firm's U.S. operations. In early July, Larry Kudlow, a White House economic advisor, said TikTok could operate as a U.S. firm, separate from ByteDance.
The latest turn of events is seen as a part of Trump's anti-TikTok campaign. The Trump campaign recently placed more than 100 iterations of ads on Facebook and Instagram linking to a survey asking users whether they thought TikTok should be banned in the U.S.
Both ByteDance and Microsoft have yet to issue a statement. TikTok has been constantly under fire, like most other Chinese companies, over suspicions that it may hand over user data to the Chinese government.
Source: Charles Gasparino (Twitter) via Business Insider
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