The Chinese company ByteDance is negotiating with the US Government possible solutions that allow it to retain a part of its stake in TikTok operations in the North American country. These proposals should satisfy both China’s regulators and their American colleagues.
One of these solutions includes handing over operational control over TikTok data to a US technology company, a source close to these conversations told CNBC.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported that the Chinese company has been negotiating with the US government for months to avoid a complete sale. While this discussion has been going on for months, its results still remain uncertain.
It is also unclear whether the Trump Administration is willing to accept the solution proposed by the Chinese company. ByteDance offered the US authorities to restructure the US segment of TikTok. This proposal became current after China further limited the sale of Chinese products that use artificial intelligence.
Therefore, it is likely that the purchase of the video service by a U.S. company will no longer involve the transfer of key algorithms. In addition, it will be difficult to carry out this operation without authorization by the Chinese authorities.
Previously, ByteDance had been negotiating the possibility of selling TikTok’s US operations to tech giant Microsoft in partnership with Walmart or Oracle. The deal was nearing completion, but the sale was stalled.
The White House set a deadline, September 20, in which the Chinese company should announce a plan to sell TikTok’s operations in the US to a US corporation or, on the contrary, this application would face closure in the North American country by September 29. Any deal would have to be completed by November 12.