TikTok is back online for US users after temporarily cutting service ahead of a nationwide ban—now that the app has more time, a US buyer could yet step in.
The popular Chinese video-sharing app—which has over 1 billion monthly active users globally, of which 170 million reside in the US—went dark for US users on Saturday (January 18), a day after the US Supreme Court upheld a ban TikTok on national security grounds that was due to come into force on January 19.
Back in April, Congress decreed that TikTok parent ByteDance should sell its US operations or shut down. The ban saw content creators flock to rivals, including Chinese apps RedNote and ByteDance-owned Lemon8.
TikTok now has a reprieve after President-elect Donald Trump said he would delay the ban when he retakes office today (January 20) to allow more time for a deal. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he would prefer the US to have a “50% ownership position in a joint venture.”
A slew of suitors have already expressed interest in a purchase with the most recent offer coming from AI search engine Perplexity AI which submitted a bid on Sunday, CNBC reported.
The VC-backed startup is proposing a new entity that would combine its operations with TikTok US and would allow for most of ByteDance’s existing investors to retain their stakes. CNBC reported that the offer price could be over $50 billion.
Elon Musk is also considered a potential suitor after Bloomberg reported that Chinese officials were considering a deal with the billionaire. In that scenario, X would most likely take control of TikTok US although it is uncertain if the US government would approve a tie-up.
Another billionaire, Frank McCourt, approached ByteDance with an offer to buy the assets through internet advocacy group Project Liberty.
Popular social media influencer Jimmy Donaldson, also known as MrBeast, took to X last week to declare that he would buy TikTok to avoid the ban, posting that he’s had “so many billionaires reach out to me since I tweeted this”.
Former would-be buyers Walmart and Microsoft could return to the negotiation table after a failed bid in 2020 to buy TikTok US but neither party has publicly stated a renewed interest. At the time, the deal was said to be in the $20 billion to $30 billion range.
ByteDance has publicly indicated that it will not sell TikTok, but with time running out—Trump can delay the ban for up to 90 days when he’s sworn in—there may be no other option.
Featured image by Anadolu/Anadolu via Getty Images
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