Elon Musk he returned to the limelight for a possible acquisition of TikTokthe social network owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. Musk, after acquiring in 2022 Twitter (Now X) for the record sum of 44 billion dollars, would be interested in expanding its dominance in the world of social media by purchasing the famous Chinese app, at least according to what was reported by the agency Bloomberg. It must be said that at the moment a spokesperson for TikTok denied the news to the microphones of BBCdefining the possibility as a «pure fiction», and Musk has not made any official statements on the matter. We will therefore have to wait for any new developments on the matter. Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court is expected to decide by January 19 on a law that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok, under penalty of a possible ban from the US. For the record, a few days ago the same President was elected Donald Trump asked to suspend the ban.
What could happen to TikTok
ByteDance it is, in this historical moment, at the center of a heated debate between the United States and China. On the one hand, the American government fears that TikTok represents a threat to national security, accusing ByteDance of being able to give up sensitive data to the Chinese government or manipulate public opinion through its algorithm. On the other hand, Beijing would prefer to maintain control over TikTok but is evaluating alternative options, including one possible transfer. This is where Musk, currently the richest man on the planet, would come into play. With the acquisition of TikTok, Musk could access an immense amount of personal data, useful for his technological projects (such as those carried out by xAI in the field of artificial intelligence) and further consolidate its dominance in the digital ecosystem.
The fact is that the context remains extremely uncertain. TikTok reiterated that there are no ongoing negotiations and that the hypothesis of a sale is pure speculation. At the same time, American law could force ByteDance’s hand, forcing it to sell TikTok to a buyer with no ties to the Chinese government. If this does not happen by January 19thTikTok may be banned from the United States.
Among the possible buyers there are also lesser-known figures, such as Frank McCourtformer owner of the baseball team Los Angeles Dodgerswhich proposed an acquisition through its Project Liberty. The goal would be to create a platform where data is owned by users and not by big tech giants, thus counteracting the current model based on the monetization of personal information.
Musk, a possible mediator between China and the USA?
China, for its part, seems to want to maintain an ambivalent position. While ByteDance has appealed to the Supreme Court to challenge the ban, Chinese officials have hypothesized Musk’s involvement as a possible mediatorgiven its international profile and its ties to both the United States and China. However, it is not clear whether ByteDance is aware of these discussions or whether Musk himself has been formally contacted.
