Microsoft Eyes TikTok’s US Operations Amid National Security Concerns

Agencies Ghacks
Jan 28, 2025
Apps, Microsoft
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Microsoft is reportedly in talks to acquire TikTok’s US operations from ByteDance, according to statements made by President Donald Trump. Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said, "I would say yes. A lot of interest in TikTok. There’s great interest in TikTok," indicating the tech giant’s serious consideration of the deal.

The discussions come as part of a broader effort to address national security concerns surrounding TikTok’s operations in the US. Trump reiterated his stance during a meeting with Republican lawmakers in Florida, stating, "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."

The potential acquisition aligns with Trump’s long-standing demand for ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US arm or face a potential ban. TikTok was temporarily banned on January 19 but returned online after Trump signed an executive order granting the app additional time to find a buyer. Despite this, the app remains unavailable on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, causing frustration among users who had uninstalled it during the ban.

Meanwhile, other bidders have expressed interest, including artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI, which has proposed merging with TikTok’s US operations under a new entity where the US government could own a 50% stake. Rumors also surfaced about Elon Musk potentially acquiring TikTok, though these have been dismissed. Oracle was another company speculated to be considering TikTok’s global operations.

As discussions progress, Microsoft’s involvement may be a significant step toward resolving the controversy surrounding TikTok’s future in the US, ensuring the app’s operations align with national security requirements while preserving jobs and user access.

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Comments

  1. NoOne said on January 29, 2025 at 1:54 pm
    Reply

    Watch out when USA declares DeepSeek AI a National security threat and force China to sell to American buyer or else face a Ban. LOL

  2. John C. said on January 29, 2025 at 1:15 pm
    Reply

    Microsoft is now a company which is basically run by India. When Satya Nadella took over as CEO, he began getting rid of American employees and replacing them with people from his home country. This is why Windows 10 & 11 are both such abominations. The new employees are incapable maintaining the OS’s code. Why am I mentioning this? Well, if Microsoft is now run by people from India, rest assured that if MS acquires TikTok’s US operations from ByteDance, it will not be to serve the interests of the United States.

  3. Anonymous said on January 29, 2025 at 1:11 am
    Reply

    I think it is almost funny, if such a word can be used in these unusual times.
    If they (the US gov) want to get people to quit tiktok, then letting microsoft buy it seems like a rocksolid strategy.
    That would absolutely bring it to a halt. Even Meta is not so great at things. Remember how they began buying and copying competitors in the some space, to stop bleeding users? Now imagine MS running tiktok, it is crazy, like geriatric seniors trying to do parkour, not cool, not funny, just headshakingly bad. You just do not mix business and pleasure and MS is a business shop. They don’t have a clue and they would not want the risk and responsibility, specially given the current POTUS/administration, if they gave it a second thought.

    What interest they have is not ownership and what comes with that, it is the data, the access and another chance to push that “ms account” agenda on a crowd that only use windows because they are forced to for work or school but have no interest in beyond that. Because people use tiktik a lot on their phones and guess what phones do not run? Windows. Guess who you do not need a account with to use tiktok: microsoft. So, yeah, they want to hook into that, to get more hooks into people.
    Anyway, few dare or bother to get up and dance with chinese companies, but a domestic one, that can be armtwisted a lot easier. Soon as the fickle vain vindictive bully of a potus loses interest, it becomes a liability, lest he begins seing memes against himself on that and reacting like a certain guy in China who also can not take it or tolerate it.
    Once they snap out of the first greedy instinct they will realize this and stay the F away, to avoid threats of some of their big, huge, keep-MS-large government contracts going to amazon/google/alphabet/oracle instead.

  4. DevHome said on January 28, 2025 at 11:13 pm
    Reply

    I hope Microsoft buys it, ruins its and shuts it down completely.

  5. anonyme said on January 28, 2025 at 4:29 pm
    Reply

    These articles written by “Agencies Ghacks”, none of them interest me.

    1. Don't cry my girl said on January 28, 2025 at 5:03 pm
      Reply

      Agencies Ghacks are giving us the best articles ever at this site.

      1. Anonymous said on January 29, 2025 at 11:55 am
        Reply

        Yes the best… that’s why most of the time 0 comment on them

      2. Mainly perfect said on January 29, 2025 at 2:02 pm
        Reply

        @Anonymous, it’s best having 0 comments here than hundreds of fanboys in the rest.

      3. Anonymous said on January 29, 2025 at 5:16 pm
        Reply

        Also it’s better to have one article that interests a majority of people than 15 articles that only interest a minority.

      4. Anonymous said on January 29, 2025 at 5:01 pm
        Reply

        Since many years I came on this site regularly, now I removed my fav on my personal bar. Good luck.

  6. D. Sinclair said on January 28, 2025 at 4:08 pm
    Reply

    Sanctions, a ban on operating in the US or the forced sale of successful Chinese companies is Uncle Sam’s strategy for containing China. Security issues are nothing more than a subterfuge.

    1. Allwynd said on January 28, 2025 at 9:06 pm
      Reply

      The hypocritical west want to have their business everywhere in the world, but when some business from a country they see as a rival, to say the least, becomes too successful in the west, they get so mad, they start throwing a tantrum – either submit to us or go away.

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