- TikTok has denied reports claiming Chinese officials are discussing a potential sale to Elon Musk if the platform is forced to shut down in the U.S.
TikTok has rejected reports claiming Chinese officials have discussed letting Elon Musk buy the platform if it fails to fight off a looming U.S. ban, calling the reports “pure fiction.”
The company’s remarks came in response to reports from Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal that said Beijing was considering allowing Musk to invest in or take control of TikTok’s U.S. assets.
Bloomberg reported that Chinese officials had discussed one scenario in which X would control TikTok’s U.S. operations, allowing the businesses to be run together.
The report said it was unclear if Musk, TikTok, and ByteDance had discussed a possible deal.
A representative for TikTok denied the claims in a statement provided to Fortune, saying: “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
The reports linking Musk to the video-sharing platform come just days before TikTok’s parent company, China-based ByteDance, faces a deadline to sell off U.S. assets or shut down operations in the country.
TikTok has been contesting the deadline, and Chinese officials have said they would prefer the video-sharing platform to remain under ByteDance’s ownership.
TikTok’s legal battle
The divest-or-ban deadline set for January 19 results from a years-long battle over TikTok’s future in the U.S.
Initial efforts to force a sale of the platform’s U.S. operations began in 2020, with then-President Trump citing national security concerns.
The platform has faced continued scrutiny from the Biden administration, which banned the app from federal devices in February 2023.
In April 2024, President Biden signed a bipartisan law forcing TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. operations or shut down in the country.
In December, the law was upheld by the federal appeals court after TikTok sued the U.S. federal government to challenge the ruling.
ByteDance has continually said it won’t consider selling off its U.S. operations, arguing that the law forcing it to do so is unconstitutional and violates free speech laws.
On Friday, the company argued its case against the divest-or-ban law before the Supreme Court with TikTok’s attorney, Noel Francisco, warning the platform would “go dark” in the U.S. this month if the Supreme Court didn’t extend the deadline.
The Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling, however, a majority of justices have signaled that they are likely to uphold the law.
What is Trump’s stance on TikTok ban?
President-elect Trump has also weighed in on the ban, saying he wants to find a way for TikTok to continue operating in the U.S.
Despite initially supporting the ban, in a legal brief filed in December, Trump’s lawyers said he opposes banning the video-sharing platform and “seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.”
The president-elect also met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, in December.
The meeting was one of several Trump meetings with business officials and foreign leaders as he assembled his administration.
He has reportedly met with other leading tech figures at Mar-a-Lago, including Amazon cofounder Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Representatives for X and Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
