Chinese officials are reportedly discussing the possibility of Elon Musk buying out the American operations of TikTok, as the social network faces an impending ban in the U.S., according to Bloomberg.
The Chinese government prefers that the app remain in the hands of parent company ByteDance, but has reportedly discussed the potential of a Musk acquisition as part of its broader contingency planning for working with the incoming Trump administration.
A potential sale to Musk would put the billionaire in an unprecedented position, owning X, one of the world’s largest social media networks, and the U.S. operations of another, all while serving as a top adviser to Donald Trump.
Such a deal could raise concerns about monopoly ownership of social media platforms. Musk’s possible partnership with China would likely also fail to allay security concerns about TikTok if Chinese officials would continue to have access to U.S. user data through Musk.
ByteDance downplayed the report.
“We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction,” the company told CNBC.
The Independent has contacted X for comment.
In April, the U.S. Congress passed a bipartisan bill to ban TikTok in the U.S. unless it finds a new owner.
Federal officials have argued the site is a “national-security threat of immense depth and scale” because of alleged links with China, and resulting concerns over the sanctity of U.S. user data.
TikTok and ByteDance have argued these concerns are unfounded. They are currently challenging the TikTok ban at the Supreme Court.
On Friday, the justices appeared skeptical of the company’s First Amendment arguments.
“Congress doesn’t care about what’s on TikTok,” Chief Justice John Roberts said during oral arguments. “They don’t care about the expression. That’s shown by the remedy. They’re not saying TikTok has to stop. They’re saying the Chinese have to stop controlling TikTok.”
The “law is only targeted at this foreign corporation, which doesn’t have First Amendment rights,” Justice Elena Kagan added.
Donald Trump has sought to delay the ban, which will take effect on January 19, the day before he takes office. The president-elect, as his lawyer put it in a brief, is hoping to resolve the fate of TikTok through “political means once he takes office.”
Trump tried to ban TikTok in 2020 via executive order, then campaigned in 2024 that he would “save” the app.
“For all of those who want to save TikTok in America, vote Trump,” Trump said during the campaign. “The other side is closing it up. But I’m now a big star on TikTok … We’re not doing anything with TikTok, but the other side is going to close it up.”
Observers have argued the impending ban would devastate the sprawling creator economy that depends on the platform.
“A TikTok ban would be absolutely catastrophic for the creators and the small businesses who rely on it,” Jess Maddox, an assistant professor at the University of Alabama told CNN. “I’ve spent my career talking to creators and influencers, they are resilient, they’ll pivot, but it will be a struggle in the meantime and take a hit to them financially.”
Ahead of a potential ban, creators have also taken to using another popular app, Lemon8, with similar features, which is owned by ByteDance.
