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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMicrosoft Said to Be in Talks to Buy TikTok, as Trump Weighs Curtailing App
The discussions come as TikToks ownership by a Chinese company is under scrutiny by the White House and lawmakers.https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/technology/tiktok-microsoft.html
SAN FRANCISCO TikTok, the Chinese-owned video app that has been under scrutiny from the Trump administration, is in talks to sell itself to Microsoft and other companies as President Trump weighs harsh actions against the business, including forcing TikTok to divorce itself from its parent company, ByteDance, said people with knowledge of the discussions.
The powerful Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius, has been examining ByteDances 2017 purchase of Musical.ly, an app that eventually morphed to become TikTok. The committee has decided to order ByteDance to divest TikTok, and the government is engaged in negotiations over the terms of the separation, according to a person familiar with the administrations plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. White House officials have said TikTok may pose a national security threat because of its Chinese ownership.
On Friday, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, who leads the committee, briefed the president on the divestment plan. But it remains unclear what the president will do, including whether the U.S. would apply a divestment order to all of TikToks American operations and whether its actions would affect the apps global business as well. Mr. Trump is weighing several other courses of action, including an executive order that could use the vast powers of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to bar certain foreign apps from American app stores. The Trump administration has also considered whether to add TikToks parent to a so-called entity list, which would prevent it from purchasing American products and services without a special license, said people with knowledge of the matter. Discussions are expected to continue into this weekend.
In his comments on Friday, Mr. Trump told reporters that there were a couple of options with TikTok, including banning it. He added, But a lot of things are happening, so well see what happens. But we are looking at a lot of alternatives with respect to TikTok. Its unclear how advanced TikToks talks to sell itself to Microsoft and other companies are, but changing ownership is crucial for the app. The United States is one of TikToks major markets, so continued operations in the country are a priority. TikTok has discussed other scenarios to alleviate concerns by U.S. officials. In one scenario, non-Chinese investors like Sequoia Capital, SoftBank and General Atlantic could purchase a majority stake in the app from ByteDance, people familiar with the discussions have said. Any deal would likely be expensive. ByteDances valuation recently stood at around $100 billion, according to the research firm PitchBook.
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Microsoft Said to Be in Talks to Buy TikTok, as Trump Weighs Curtailing App (Original Post)
Celerity
Jul 2020
OP
soothsayer
(38,601 posts)1. What could go wrong integrating China's spyware into Microsoft?
tinrobot
(10,848 posts)4. Integrate into Microsoft? What in the world does that mean?
Microsoft has dozens of different products in many different areas.
Stop spreading fear.
House of Roberts
(5,122 posts)2. Ah good,
that'll kill it.
USALiberal
(10,877 posts)3. LOL, yes Microsoft's market cap is only like a 1.5 trillion. You jealous of Gates I assume! nt