WASHINGTON — Microsoft Corporation is in talks to acquire the US arm of ByteDance Limited's TikTok, President Donald Trump said Monday night, without elaborating.
"I would say yes," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One when asked if Microsoft is in discussions to purchase the application. "A lot of interest in TikTok. There's great interest in TikTok."
The short video app, used by more than 170 million Americans, has drawn interest from many corners of the US tech industry. Artificial intelligence (AI) startup Perplexity has submitted a bid to merge with TikTok US, while billionaire Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles (LA) Dodgers, made a formal offer to buy TikTok earlier this month. Microsoft and Oracle Corp. were in the running to acquire TikTok in 2020, when Trump first pressured ByteDance to either sell in the United States or face a ban.
Microsoft declined to comment on reports of the company's involvement in a deal.
Trump earlier Monday in Florida addressed a gathering of Republican lawmakers and had alluded to ongoing talks surrounding TikTok's future. Having previously favoured banning the app on national security grounds, he has since changed his view, in part because of the success of pro-Trump content among its users.
"We'll see what happens. We're going to have a lot of people bidding on it, and if we can save all that voice and all the jobs, and China won't be involved, we don't want China involved, but we'll see what happens," he said in his speech, referring to the video-sharing app.
Trump granted a 75-day reprieve for ByteDance from a law that stipulates it must sell its US operations to a domestic company — and he is now encouraging more bidders to get involved.
"I like bidding wars because you make your best deal. So, if there’s a bidding war, that’s a good thing," Trump said.
