By Gursimran Mehar (Reuters) – Billionaire Elon Musk has made it clear that he is not considering acquiring TikTok, the popular short-video app that the United States is seeking to ban due to national security concerns related to its Chinese owner ByteDance.
Musk’s statements, disclosed in late January, were brought to light online on Saturday by The WELT Group, a division of the German media conglomerate Axel Springer SE, which organized a summit where the Tesla CEO participated remotely via video conference.
“I have not submitted a bid for TikTok,” Musk stated, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s previous openness to Musk potentially purchasing the ByteDance-owned app if he so desired. Musk further emphasized, “I do not have any specific plans in place for TikTok,” mentioning that he personally does not utilize the short video application and is not well-versed in its operational framework.
“I am not eagerly looking to acquire TikTok; the acquisition of companies is not a common practice of mine – it is rather rare,” Musk explained, noting that his atypical billion-dollar purchase of the social media platform Twitter, now known as X, was an exception. “I typically establish companies from the ground up,” Musk added.
The Republican president issued an executive order to defer the implementation of a ban on TikTok, which was scheduled to be deactivated on January 19. ByteDance had until January to divest the U.S. assets of TikTok or confront a ban in the U.S., prompted by concerns from lawmakers about potential national security threats as China could potentially demand access to the data of American users of the app. TikTok has consistently refuted claims of sharing or intending to share U.S. user data.
Despite the enactment of a U.S. law, Apple and Google have not restored TikTok to their app stores. In response, TikTok announced on Friday its decision to permit U.S. Android users to download and access the app through package kits available on its official website, as a means to circumvent restrictions enforced on the popular platform within the country.
Trump has revealed ongoing negotiations with various individuals regarding the potential acquisition of TikTok and anticipates reaching a conclusion on the fate of the app within this month. The app boasts approximately 170 million American users.
During this week, the president signed an executive order to establish a sovereign wealth fund within the coming year, suggesting the fund might be utilized for the acquisition of TikTok.
ByteDance has previously refuted any plans to sell TikTok.
Trump’s actions to preserve TikTok stand in stark contrast to his previous stance during his initial term in office, where he unsuccessfully attempted to prohibit the app due to concerns regarding the company’s alleged sharing of personal information of American citizens with the Chinese government.
More recently, Trump has expressed a favorable disposition towards TikTok, acknowledging the app’s role in attracting young voters and
