Chinese government officials have reportedly discussed a scenario where ByteDance sells TikTok's American arm to Elon Musk. On January 19, the Supreme Court upheld a law banning the app.
Bloomberg reports. China strongly wants TikTok to remain under ByteDance's ownership, but government officials have said they are considering a sale to Musk as part of a broader plan to work with incoming President Donald Trump's administration. In that case, Musk's X would effectively absorb the vertical video platform's 170 million US users and billions in potential ad revenue.
A TikTok spokesperson called the report “pure fiction.” Peda tree.
It's unclear how much ByteDance and TikTok knew about China's discussions about the Musk sale. The report highlights China's influence on the platform that brought about the law in the first place.