Elon Musk Says He Has No Plans to Bid on TikTok

• Elon Musk says he has no plans to amass TikTok in the USA.
• A legislation handed final yr requires TikTok to promote to a US firm or face a ban from app shops.
• TikTok nonetheless faces uncertainty in the USA, even after Trump’s 75-day extension.

Elon Musk says he doesn’t plan to be TikTok’s savior in the USA.

“I’ve not truly put in a bid for TikTok and I haven’t got any plans for what would I do if I had TikTok,” Musk mentioned throughout a digital look at a latest enterprise convention in Germany.

Former President Joe Biden signed a legislation final yr that requires ByteDance, the Chinese language proprietor of TikTok, to divest from the favored social media app or face a ban from US app shops. The US authorities worries TikTok’s Chinese language possession presents a safety danger.

The Supreme Court docket upheld the legislation in January earlier than President Donald Trump signed an govt order giving ByteDance one other 75 days to discover a purchaser.

A number of traders have expressed curiosity in buying TikTok, together with “Shark Tank” mogul Kevin O’Leary and former Dodgers proprietor Frank McCourt. Some have additionally puzzled if Musk, who purchased Twitter in 2022 and rebranded it X, may also throw up his hand.

Musk’s first public feedback on the matter got here through video name on the WELT Financial Summit in Berlin, a gathering of politicians and CEOs hosted by Axel Springer, on January 28. Axel Springer is Enterprise Insider’s mother or father firm.

Musk informed the summit’s visitors he doesn’t personally use TikTok and that he’s “not chomping on the bit” to amass the app.

He mentioned his acquisition of Twitter was a “uncommon” and “extremely uncommon” buy. He mentioned the acquisition has been “tough” and “fairly painful,” however that he purchased the corporate as a result of he thought it was essential to “protect freedom of speech in America.”

“I normally construct firms from scratch,” Musk added.

Attorneys for TikTok argued on the Supreme Court docket that banning the app in the USA would infringe on its customers’ proper to free speech.

Musk, nonetheless, mentioned he solely sees financial causes to purchase the app.

“I do not know if the identical logic applies to TikTok,” He mentioned, referring to the explanations he bought Twitter. “I do not purchase issues only for financial causes. So it isn’t clear to me what the aim of buying TikTok can be other than economics.”

ByteDance has mentioned it doesn’t plan to promote TikTok, which signifies that if Trump doesn’t intervene, TikTok may go darkish in the USA by April.