Elon Musk may buy TikTok

Chinese authorities are considering selling TikTok's US division to Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest person. This is reported by Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the situation.

One of the scenarios under consideration is the transfer of control over TikTok in the US to a Musk-owned company, which would jointly manage the platform with its parent organisation. Given that TikTok has over 170 million users in the US, such a deal could significantly bolster Musk's social network X's efforts to attract advertisers.

In addition, Musk founded xAI, an artificial intelligence company that could benefit from the vast amounts of data generated by TikTok. However, Chinese officials have not yet made a final decision on the matter, and discussions remain at a preliminary stage.

Nevertheless, Beijing tends to prefer that TikTok remains under the control of its parent company, ByteDance Ltd. 

Meanwhile, TikTok continues to challenge a US House of Representatives bill that would ban the platform in the country. The company has filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court, but during the 10 January hearings, the justices indicated that they would likely support the ban.