Elon Musk swooping in to buy TikTok before a US ban is set to bite? It seems like a stretch, but it could also make some sense, Peter Kafka writes.

A representative for TikTok has denied a report claiming that China was working on selling the app to Elon Musk to keep it operational in the United States. On Monday, Bloomberg reported that Chinese officials were “evaluating a potential option that involves Elon Musk acquiring the US operations of TikTok” and that the Chinese government had discussed the option of Musk’s social media app X taking “control of TikTok US” and running

Could Elon Musk save TikTok in the US? China weighs option to sell the controversial TikTok social media app's US operations ahead of looming ban

Chinese government officials are reportedly mulling selling TikTok's US operations to Elon Musk to avoid a complete ban in the country.

After years of rejecting the idea of a sale of TikTok’s US assets to an American buyer in order to avert a ban, China and ByteDance may have found an owner they could live with: Elon Musk.

Americans are going to lose access to TikTok in less than a week, unless China green-lights a sale to what Congress has deemed a non-adversary of the United States — something China is unlikely to do but might.

Musk acquired X (then Twitter) in October 2022 after a highly publicized back and forth, in which he gave up on the acquisition midway but ultimately closed the deal, paying $44 billion for the platform. X's user base has been on a decline since the acquisition, and advertising revenues have plummeted.

TikTok denied a report that China is exploring a sale of the app to Elon Musk to keep TikTok operational in America amid a looming U.S. ban.

A suspension for Elon Musk-owned social network X in the European Union could be more difficult than some politicians have suggested and at worst only temporary, experts told AFP. Former European Commissioner Thierry Breton brought suspending X into play last week,

The high-profile names who could potentially buy TikTok following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the law banning the platform in the US.

In an unsigned opinion, the Court sided with the national security concerns about TikTok over First Amendment rights. There were no noted dissents.