American billionaire Elon Musk has made it clear that he is not interested in acquiring TikTok. Despite ongoing efforts by the U.S. government to ban the Chinese-owned short-video platform, Musk has stated that he has not placed a bid for TikTok and has no plans to do so in the future, according to a report by Reuters.
Musk’s remarks, made at a conference in late January, were published on Saturday by German media company Axel Springer’s subsidiary, Die Welt Group. During the discussion, Musk admitted that he is not very familiar with TikTok’s format and does not personally use the app. He further noted that his focus has generally been on building new companies rather than acquiring existing ones, adding that his purchase of Twitter (now ‘X’) was an exception to this approach.
Meanwhile, former U.S. President Donald Trump recently stated that he has been in discussions with several parties regarding TikTok’s future, with a final decision expected in February. U.S. lawmakers had previously ordered ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to divest its American assets by January or face a potential ban, citing national security concerns. However, TikTok has consistently denied allegations of sharing U.S. user data with the Chinese government.
Apple and Google have yet to reinstate TikTok on their respective app stores. However, TikTok has announced that U.S. Android users can now download and install the app’s package kit directly from its website—a move seen as an attempt to circumvent existing restrictions. With nearly 170 million American users, Trump’s forthcoming decision could significantly impact TikTok’s presence in the U.S.
