The Chinese government is considering selling TikTok’s U.S. operations to Elon Musk, according to a report from Bloomberg News.
The move to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to Musk, who also owns social media company X/Twitter, would be done to keep the popular app from being banned in America, notes the Bloomberg report.
The plan to sell to Musk is one of several options China’s government in Beijing is exploring as the U.S. Supreme Court determines whether to uphold a law that calls for ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations by January 19 of this year.
After that deadline, third-party Internet service providers would be penalized for supporting TikTok’s app in the U.S.
Under the plan, Musk would oversee both X and TikTok’s U.S. business.
Chinese officials are reportedly debating plans involving TikTok’s future in the U.S. as part of larger discussions about working with incoming President Donald Trump.
Neither China’s government, TikTok, or Musk have commented on the report.
Last week, the Supreme Court held oral arguments about the law potentially banning TikTok, which outgoing President Joe Biden signed last spring.
TikTok’s legal team argued that the law violates the free-speech rights of millions of users of the popular social media app.
The U.S. government countered that TikTok poses a national security risk as the Chinese government is involved with the app.
The Chinese government and TikTok executives could turn to Trump when his second term begins on January 20.
Trump, who favored a TikTok ban during his first administration, has since flip-flopped on the matter. Late last month, he urged the Supreme Court to delay Biden’s ban on TikTok.
Trump’s position on TikTok began to turn after he met last year with billionaire Jeff Yass, a Republican megadonor and a major investor in both ByteDance and Truth Social, Trump’s social media company.
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is privately held and its stock does not trade on a public exchange.
