Amazon has reportedly made a last-minute offer to buy TikTok’s US operations, just days before a looming deadline for the Chinese-owned short-video platform to divest its American business, according to a report in The New York Times on Wednesday.
The move by the US tech and e-commerce giant adds a further layer of complexity to the uncertain future of TikTok in the United States, as regulatory pressure intensifies.
ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, was ordered to sell off its US assets under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. This legislation requires ByteDance to transfer ownership of TikTok’s US operations to a non-Chinese entity by January 19, 2025, or face a ban in the country.
While TikTok briefly ceased operations in the US on January 18, service resumed after then-President Trump signed an executive order extending the deadline by 75 days, setting a new cutoff date of April 5.
With less than four days until this deadline, the future of TikTok in the US remains unclear. If a sale does not materialise, the app could be banned, although the specifics of how such a ban would be enforced have not been fully outlined.
Several potential buyers have reportedly expressed interest in acquiring TikTok’s US business. These include private equity firm Blackstone. Additionally, US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is said to be exploring raising external investment to buy out TikTok’s Chinese investors.
This reported effort by Andreessen Horowitz is part of a broader bid led by Oracle and a consortium of American investors seeking to separate the platform from ByteDance, as reported by The Financial Times on Tuesday.
ByteDance has not publicly commented on the progress of any potential sale, leaving the fate of TikTok’s estimated 170 million US users hanging in the balance. The entry of a major player like Amazon at this late stage could significantly alter the landscape of the ongoing discussions.
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