Former U.S. President Donald Trump has revealed that Microsoft is in talks to purchase TikTok, adding that he favors a “competitive bidding” process for the app. The news was reported by Reuters.
Microsoft declined to comment on the matter, and TikTok as well as its parent company ByteDance did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
TikTok, which currently has around 170 million U.S. users, briefly went offline on January 19 following the enforcement of a law that required ByteDance to sell TikTok due to national security concerns or face a ban.
After assuming office on January 20, Trump issued an executive order delaying the enforcement of the law by 75 days.
Last week, Trump disclosed that he has been in talks with various individuals about TikTok’s purchase and that a decision on the app’s future might be made within 30 days.
Trump has previously stated that if Tesla CEO Elon Musk wishes to purchase TikTok, he would have no objections. However, Musk has yet to comment publicly on the matter.
Recently, AI startup Perplexity AI proposed merging with TikTok, in a deal that could allow the U.S. government to claim up to half of the future revenue from the new entity, a source told Reuters.
This marks Microsoft’s second attempt to acquire TikTok.
During Trump’s first term, he had ordered ByteDance to separate TikTok’s U.S. operations from its Chinese parent company due to national security concerns.
In 2020, Microsoft emerged as the leading bidder, but negotiations collapsed quickly, and the pressure from Trump’s administration dissipated as his term ended.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella later described the negotiations as “the strangest experience.” In 2021, he stated, “There were certain conditions put forth by the government that just suddenly disappeared.”
