Billionaire Elon Musk said that he was not interested in purchasing TikTok, the popular short-video app that the US has been trying to ban over national security concerns with its Chinese owner ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動).
Musk’s comments, made late last month, were released online on Saturday by The WELT Group, a part of the German media company Axel Springer SE, which hosted a summit which the Tesla Inc chief joined via video.
“I have not put in a bid for TikTok,” Musk said a week after US President Donald Trump said he was open to Musk buying the ByteDance-owned app if he wanted to do so.
Photo: Reuters
“I don’t have any plans for what I would do if I had TikTok,” Musk said, adding that he does not use the short video app personally and was not familiar with the app’s format.
“I’m not chomping at the bit to acquire TikTok, I do not acquire companies in general, it’s quite rare,” Musk said, adding that his billion-dollar acquisition of social media platform Twitter, now called X, was unusual.
“I usually build companies from scratch,” Musk said.
Trump signed an executive order seeking to delay the enforcement of a ban on the popular short-video app that was slated to be shuttered on Jan. 19.
ByteDance was given the January deadline to sell the US assets of TikTok or face a US ban, following US lawmakers’ concerns that the app poses national security risks, because China could compel the company to share the data of its US users.
TikTok has denied that it has or ever would share US user data.
Apple Inc and Google have not reinstated TikTok to their app stores since a US law took effect.
TikTok on Friday said that it was allowing US Android users to download and connect to the app through package kits on its Web site to circumvent restrictions on the popular platform in the country.
Trump has said that he was in talks with multiple people over TikTok’s purchase and would likely have a decision on the app’s future this month. It has about 170 million US users.
Last week, the US president signed an executive order to create a sovereign wealth fund within the year, saying it could potentially buy TikTok.
ByteDance has previously denied any plans to sell TikTok.
TAKING STOCK: A Taiwanese cookware firm in Vietnam urged customers to assess inventory or place orders early so shipments can reach the US while tariffs are paused Taiwanese businesses in Vietnam are exploring alternatives after the White House imposed a 46 percent import duty on Vietnamese goods, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on the US’ trading partners. Lo Shih-liang (羅世良), chairman of Brico Industry Co (裕茂工業), a Taiwanese company that manufactures cast iron cookware and stove components in Vietnam, said that more than 40 percent of his business was tied to the US market, describing the constant US policy shifts as an emotional roller coaster. “I work during the day and stay up all night watching the news. I’ve been following US news until 3am
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Six years ago, LVMH’s billionaire CEO Bernard Arnault and US President Donald Trump cut the blue ribbon on a factory in rural Texas that would make designer handbags for Louis Vuitton, one of the world’s best-known luxury brands. However, since the high-profile opening, the factory has faced a host of problems limiting production, 11 former Louis Vuitton employees said. The site has consistently ranked among the worst-performing for Louis Vuitton globally, “significantly” underperforming other facilities, said three former Louis Vuitton workers and a senior industry source, who cited internal rankings shared with staff. The plant’s problems — which have not
COLLABORATION: Given Taiwan’s key position in global supply chains, the US firm is discussing strategies with local partners and clients to deal with global uncertainties Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday said it is meeting with local ecosystem partners, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), to discuss strategies, including long-term manufacturing, to navigate uncertainties such as US tariffs, as Taiwan occupies an important position in global supply chains. AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) told reporters that Taiwan is an important part of the chip designer’s ecosystem and she is discussing with partners and customers in Taiwan to forge strong collaborations on different areas during this critical period. AMD has just become the first artificial-intelligence (AI) server chip customer of TSMC to utilize its advanced
RSS