As the 75-day breather that US President Donald Trump granted TikTok by signing an executive order—just after a one-day ban—nears its end, there is some positive news for TikTok fans. The time was offered to ByteDance-owned TikTok to find a potential buyer and sell off its US operations.
Since then, several bidders have emerged, including Microsoft, Oracle, Perplexity AI, etc. However, no concrete details about the bidding war have been reported. Finally, President Trump has broken the silence, suggesting a deal could happen very "soon."
In an interview with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday (via The Information), Trump said, "We’re dealing with four different groups, and a lot of people want it." Although he didn't specify the names of the companies in line for bid, but said, "All four are good."
Rumors also started circulating that Elon Musk, who already owns social media platform X (formerly Twitter), wants to acquire TikTok. However, Elon Musk came forward and confirmed that he was not interested. Since then, reports have surfaced about interest from billionaire Frank McCourt and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, YouTube star MrBeast, as well.
Following TikTok's one-day ban in the US, Apple and Google removed the TikTok apps from their respective stores. Recently, the app was reinstated on Apple's App Store and Google Play Store. While unavailable, TikTok did offer an alternative way for users to download its app.
Meta recently said it was slow to realize how wrong it was in recognizing TikTok's meteoric rise. To avoid missing another opportunity, Meta is reportedly considering launching a separate app for the Reels feature, currently available on Instagram. The company is expected to offer a TikTok-like video scrolling interface with the alleged Reels app.
Image via Depositphotos.com
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