A man holding a phone walks past a sign of Chinese company ByteDance’s app TikTok, known locally as Douyin, at the International Artificial Products Expo in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China October 18, 2019.
Reuters
Microsoft on Sunday confirmed that it has held talks with Chinese technology company ByteDance to acquire its social app TikTok in the U.S. The company said it in a statement that it will keep working with the U.S. government on a deal and that it intends to conclude talks by September 15.
The statement comes two days after media outlets including CNBC reported that Microsoft was interested in acquiring the app, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. Soon after the reports emerged, President Trump said that he opposed the idea of Microsoft buying TikTok and that he would move to ban the app in the U.S.
The two companies have looked at Microsoft buying TikTok in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and Microsoft might offer other American investors to get involved in the acquisition, Microsoft said.
“This new structure would build on the experience TikTok users currently love, while adding world-class security, privacy, and digital safety protections,” Microsoft said. “The operating model for the service would be built to ensure transparency to users as well as appropriate security oversight by governments in these countries.”
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