Chinese government officials have reportedly considered a scenario where ByteDance sells TikTok’s U.S. operations to Elon Musk, according to Bloomberg.
This potential move could occur if the Supreme Court upholds the January 19 law banning TikTok in the United States.
While China strongly prefers TikTok to remain under ByteDance’s control, officials have allegedly explored a sale to Musk as part of a broader strategy to engage with incoming president Donald Trump’s administration. Under this plan, Musk’s company, X, would acquire TikTok U.S., potentially integrating the app’s 170 million American users and its lucrative ad revenue into X’s ecosystem.
TikTok has dismissed the report as “pure fiction,” according to a statement provided to Variety. It remains unclear whether ByteDance or TikTok have any knowledge of these alleged discussions, further fueling speculation about China’s influence over the platform—a concern central to the proposed ban.
