After being touted as a potential buyer earlier this 12 months, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has denied curiosity in buying TikTok’s US operations.

“I’ve not put in a bid for TikTok,” Musk stated at a conference hosted by German billionaire Mathias Döpfner. He added that he doesn’t “have any plans for what I might do if I had TikTok,” claiming that he doesn’t use and isn’t acquainted with the platform.

The X proprietor added: “I don’t purchase firms basically; it’s fairly uncommon,” calling the 2022 acquisition of the corporate beforehand known as Twitter (now X) “uncommon.”

In January, Bloomberg reported that Chinese language officers have been analyzing the potential for Musk, along with his shut ties to President Donald Trump, buying the platform. That very same month, Trump stated he would be open to Musk shopping for the platform “if he needed to purchase it.”

Nonetheless, in January, China-based TikTok proprietor ByteDance strongly denied reviews that its US enterprise might be offered to Musk, dubbing them “pure fiction.”

Underneath a legislation signed by President Biden final 12 months, TikTok was ordered to divest its US operations on nationwide safety grounds. That was alleged to have been completed by Jan. 19, however TikTok fought the ban in court docket. It misplaced in any respect ranges, however President Trump—who started the TikTok ban issue himself in 2020—gave the corporate a 75-day reprieve when he returned to workplace.

It was reported final month that the Trump administration was making an attempt to dealer a deal for enterprise software program large Oracle, together with different buyers, to accumulate TikTok’s operations. Nonetheless, this has not been confirmed on the time of writing.

Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order that directs the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce to ship a plan inside 90 days for the creation of a sovereign wealth fund, which is a sort of funding fund owned by the federal government. “We’ll be doing one thing, maybe, with TikTok,” Trump stated when signing the EO.

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About Will McCurdy

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I’m a reporter overlaying weekend information. Earlier than becoming a member of PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC Information, The Guardian, The Occasions of London, The Each day Beast, Vice, Slate, Quick Firm, The Night Customary, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer because you needed to set up video games from a number of CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate in regards to the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve coated every little thing from crypto scandals to the artwork world, in addition to conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and overseas affairs.

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