Microsoft eyeing TikTok, says US President Trump

Last week, the artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI sent a proposal to ByteDance for merging TikTok's business with it in the US. Several other investors have spoken publicly about their desire to purchase TikTok's US platform

Washington: President Donald Trump said on Monday evening that Microsoft is among the US companies looking to take control of TikTok to help the popular app avert an effective ban that could kick-in in April.

“I would say yes,” Trump told reporters when asked if Microsoft was one of the companies interested in helping to bring about a new ownership of TikTok, a requirement set by Congress to keep the app functioning in the US.

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Trump added on Monday other companies were also interested in purchasing TikTok, but wouldn’t provide a list. “I like bidding wars because you make your best deals,” Trump said as he spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One while flying from Miami, where Republican House members were holding a conference, back to Washington.

Representatives for Microsoft and TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In one of his first acts in office last week, Trump extended the deadline for TikTok to find new ownership that satisfies the government by 75 days, from January 19 to April 4.

The President has said that he’s looking for the ultimate purchaser to give the US a 50 per cent stake in the company, which is owned by China-based ByteDance. But the details remain murky, and its unclear whether he’s proposing control of the app by the government or another US entity.

Last week, the artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI presented a new proposal to ByteDance that would allow the US government to own up to 50 per cent of a new entity that merges Perplexity with TikTok’s US business, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Several other investors – including billionaire Frank McCourt and Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin – have spoken publicly about their desire to purchase TikTok’s US platform. Trump has also said he’s spoken to “many people” privately about the company.

After the bipartisan law was signed by former President Joe Biden in April, ByteDance said it did not have plans to sell the platform and fought the statute in court for months. China also rebuked Washington over the divestment push, though more recently it appears to be softening its stance.

In media interviews last week, Bill Ford, the chairman of the global investing firm General Atlantic and a ByteDance board member, said the company is prepared to engage with the Trump administration and Chinese officials to find a solution that keeps TikTok available. He also floated the idea that there could be a solution short of a full divesture by ByteDance.

Lawmakers and officials in both parties have raised national security concerns about Chinese ownership and potential manipulation on the immensely popular platform, which is used by more than 170 million US users.

Trump was in favour of a TikTok ban before he reversed his position last year. He credits the platform with helping him win more young voters during the recent presidential election. Microsoft, along with Walmart, made a failed bid for TikTok during Trump’s first term after Trump tried to ban the app.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella later described it as the “strangest thing I’ve ever worked on.”