Microsoft announced that it is in negotiations with the Chinese company ByteDance to purchase the US arm of its famous TikTok video app and raised its security and censorship issues about such acquisition with President Donald Trump.
In a statement, Microsoft said Microsoft and ByteDance have provided notice of their intent to explore a deal resulting in Microsoft owning and operating the TikTok service in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The company said it expects those talk to conclude on Sep 15
Trump said on Friday that he would soon ban TikTok in the United States. Trump and CEO Satya Nadella has spoken, the company said, and Microsoft was prepared to continue exploring the purchase of TikTok’s US operations after their conversation.
Microsoft completely appreciates the value of tackling the problems of the President. It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a full security review and providing the United States with proper economic benefits, including the U.S. Treasury, the Microsoft statement said.
The White House did not initially comment on the announcement from Microsoft. Previously there have been rumors that Microsoft has been in advanced talks to buy TikTok’s US activities, which has been a source of national security and censorship issues for Trump administration. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lifted again the alerts from the administration about the social media site earlier Sunday.
