International: Following the Trump administration’s threat to ban TikTok by mid-September, the owner of TikTok is in the process of choosing a partner to sell its US operations.
According to the latest updates, ByteDance, the owners of the popular video-sharing app, has chosen Oracle over Microsoft as its preferred suitor. Microsoft announced Sunday that its bid to buy TikTok has been rejected, removing a leading suitor for the Chinese-owned app a week before President Donald Trump promises to follow through with a plan to ban it in the US.
Microsoft said in a Sunday statement that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, “let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft.”
Earlier, the Trump administration has threatened to ban TikTok by mid-September and ordered ByteDance to sell its US business, claiming national-security risks due to its Chinese ownership.
The US government worries about user data being funneled to Chinese authorities. TikTok denies it is a national-security risk and is suing to stop the administration from the threatened ban.
