Bloomberg Reports: China Considers Selling TikTok U.S. Operations to Musk \ stacker news ~news

pull down to refresh

Bloomberg Reports: China Considers Selling TikTok U.S. Operations to Musk www.cnbc.com/2025/01/13/china-considers-selling-tiktok-us-operations-to-musk-bloomberg-.html

221 sats \ 8 comments \ @Cje95 18h news

I don't think that there is any way that this doesn't ruffle feathers and cause an outcry from the Left. It also should be noted I am not sure how the U.S. itself would handle this since Musk already owns X (Twitter) and even Vice President JD Vance hates big tech which essentially Musk would become.

People on TikTok have come out bashing the US Government over the upcoming ban on TikTok and are sadly extremely misguided with the issues with TikTok right now. First and foremost the number of TikTok's of people posting they are moving to China to keep it is hilarious since China doesn't even allow TikTok in its own country.

They have also said how this is being done so the app is US owned even when that is also not the case. China is a foreign advisory and has done numerous things to make this very very clear. TikTok though does not have to be sold to a US person or US company. It can be sold to anyone in Europe it can be sold to people or companies in Japan, South Korea, Australia, hell even Saudi Arabia. The only countries on the list of foreign advisories are China, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Russia and Venezuela. Anyone else or any other country is good to go.

Bytedance further shot themselves in the foot when in 2021, the state-owned China Internet Investment Fund purchased a 1% stake in ByteDance's main Chinese subsidiary, Beijing ByteDance Technology (formerly Beijing Douyin Information Service), as a golden share investment. This golden share allows lets its owner outvote all other shareholders in certain circumstances. With this stake in the company China Internet Investment Fund then seated Wu Shugang, a government official with a background in government propaganda, as one of the subsidiary's board members.

If China makes it clear they will only sell to Musk it will cause massive issues within the US and in a way will make it clear that they are messing in US internal affairs which would prove the point that the law made. I could also see it causing huge issues for Musk in regards to SpaceX and Nerualink and I am not sure he would want that.

view all related items

244 sats \ 1 reply \ @freetx 18h

Seems like bloomberg once again is just making stuff up. Senior TikTok exec denies saying "we can't comment on pure fiction"

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78w9zz62ego

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 OP 18h

I wouldnt be surprised if they started the rumor to stir the pot... Since CNBC posted and talked about it on Squawk Box that maybe there was a grain of truth. Musk being close to President Trump while also having successful Chinese operations would be the perfect person to stir the pot with.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @tomlaies 14h

After a certain amount of wealth additional wealth does not matter anymore. But influence still does.

That's why Bezos bought the money sink Washington Post. That's why Elon bought X.

I'm sure Elon would love additionally owning the direct wire into young peoples brains.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Gian 15h

Fake...

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @kepford 16h

and even Vice President JD Vance hates big tech which essentially Musk would become.

Huh?

100 sats \ 2 replies \ @Cje95 OP 15h

JD Vance hates the big tech companies and mega mergers overall. It’s a place where he and Elizabeth Warren agree and have introduced legislation together. He is even a fan of Lisa Khan lol the chairwomen of the FTC

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford 15h

Ah, I was about to say, isn't he buddies with some of the biggest names in tech? Paypal mafia guy. I see what you are saying now. I was not aware of that.

Do you not think this is a massive over-reach of the government into the free market? Forcing a foreign company to either be banned or sell? I can't see conservatives liking this if it were done to a US company. I mean, China does this to the US with companies like Apple.

I have many issues with this whole thing beyond that. It just smells to me. I don't buy the national security aspect of it. I don't trust politicians. The CCP is in our phone networks. The US gov has fought against secure platforms for years and is now recommending encrypted apps.

Its all so stupid to me. I don't trust liars. I can't get past the hypocrisy and take their word for anything.

I wonder how jaded you will be after more time working in Washington. I can't imagine you not becoming jaded. Everyone I know personally that has been in politics save one is jaded by it.

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @Cje95 OP 12h

I personally am torn in both ways and can see both sides for a few different reasons.

Like you said China already does this to the US so why should we give them free reign. TikTok isn't even allowed inside their own country which I find to be a bit of a red flag. If China wants to stop stealing shit that's great and a positive step but they aren't going to stop and it arguably gives them an unfair tech advantage.
The US fucked up when they initially passed the Rip and Replace legislation in 2021. They never funded it like they should of and that made us easily a target. Congress had a solution and just flat out fumbled it only to fund it I want to say end of '24ish... which should cover the costs to address the most basic flaws in the networks.
Project Texas was supposed to address this whole issue with TikTok but something happened. If you remember there were very vocal Members of Congress who went into the classified briefing and came out of that singing a whole different tune. Given what we have seen in I want to say Moldova and Romania's elections and the unchecked foreign interference I think the US at this point would rather it be a company under their jurisdiction so that they could fine or penalize them in some way shape or form. TikTok right now is outside the US jurisdiction.
However unlike other social media's TikTok has knocked it out of the park when it has come to empower small business. What they have done is truly remarkable and other social media's should be working to apply this to their platforms instead of so much pay to play like we see now. Plus there algorithm is just chefs kiss. I say this as someone who on my personal phone had music.ly on my phone and had no idea it was bought by Bytedance and renamed to TikTok... Whenever coworkers ask why I have it I just tell them I fucked up and the Chinese bought my data 7/8 years ago and I was SOL since then.
A lot of people are going to be hurt by this be it the influencers directly or the businesses that generate their revenue from TikTok and are able to employee people because of that. I think it is a wait and see who is going to blink first kind of thing but I cannot say for sure. If TikTok loses America there was a article I was reading about how it will essentially tank the whole app because so much of its $ comes from the English speaking side and how that is mostly made up of either American influencers or American businesses.

Since the CCP does have a direct link into the company and a Golden Share at that it is an issue. They are one of 6 countries on the foreign advisory lists after all and there are consequences and punishments for that. People might say now they do not care about China having their data but I don't think they understand the size and scope of it and the enormous impacts it can have.