Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., joins “Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street” for a wide-ranging interview.
As rumors swirled Monday that China was seeking ownership of buy TikToka representative for the latter declared that it was “pure fiction”.
Bloomberg reported Monday that Chinese authorities were exploring an option involving Musk acquiring TikTok’s U.S. operations ahead of the platform’s U.S. ban, “according to people familiar with the matter.”
The publication writes that Beijing officials prefer that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, retain ownership of TikTok as it challenges a looming ban by appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the future of TikTok on Friday.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday upheld a law requiring Chinese company ByteDance to divest its popular short-video app TikTok in the United States by early next year, or face a prohibition. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/File photo / Reuters)
Biden administration lawyers reiterated their argument Friday that Chinese ownership of TikTok poses a “serious” national security risk to U.S. users.
Following oral arguments, it remained unclear how the Supreme Court might proceed in the case — although a decision or order is expected before the ban takes effect on Jan. 19.
Bloomberg said that under one scenario discussed by Chinese officials, led by Muskwould acquire and control TikTok US. In doing so, TikTok could be an asset in trying to attract advertisers, as it has more than 170 million users in the United States. Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, could also benefit from the deal, as it could absorb huge amounts of data generated by TikTok, the publication reported.
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Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and Tesla, speaks during an America PAC town hall October 26, 2024 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Musk has donated more than $75 million to America PAC, which he co-founded with other Silicon Valley venture capitalists and tech businessmen. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Those familiar with the discussions say the deliberations are preliminary and no decisions have been made on how to proceed.
Asked about the discussions, TikTok told Fox Business: “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.”
TikTok faces a potential ban due to the Protecting Americans from Apps Controlled by Foreign Adversaries Act, a law signed by President Biden which passed Congress last April with bipartisan approval. By midnight on January 19, the app could be removed from US-based app stores unless it is spun off from its parent company.
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U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, U.S., Monday, February 12, 2024. Biden’s re-election campaign launched a TikTok account in an effort to ‘reach young voters, an approach which (Chris Kleponis/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
TikTok has faces controversy over it is a company based in China and was allegedly used as spyware for the Chinese Communist Party. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle warned the potential national security threat that TikTok would pose via American phones.
This week, “Mr. Wonderful” Kevin O’Leary announced that he is partnering with Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt to purchase the platform’s U.S. assets from its parent company, ByteDance, and “rebuild the platform.” way to prioritizes privacy of its 170 million American users.”
If their bid to acquire the social media platform is successful, O’Leary outlined how they would change the platform to better align with US interests.
In addition to giving users ownership of their data and removing “Chinese spyware,” the investor highlighted that TikTok has the potential to grow from its current 170 million users to “over 200 million” by regaining user trust.
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The investor also explained how it would look to bring countries like India, Switzerland, France, Canada and Germany onto the platform after these changes are implemented.
“This thing will be the biggest television network in the world within two years,” O’Leary said of TikTok’s growth potential.
Kira Mautone of FOX Business contributed to this report.
