Amazon is reportedly making a last-minute play to buy TikTok as the ban deadline looms
TikTok is set to be banned in the US on Saturday unless ByteDance divests the incredibly popular social media app or President Trump further extends the deadline.
Amazon has reportedly put in a bid to snatch up TikTok, which is set to be banned in the United States this weekend unless ByteDance divests the incredibly popular social media app.
Oracle has appeared to have the inside track on the company, but this last-minute push from Amazon — which has both the means to host TikTok given its sprawling AWS business, as well as a gap in its business where most of its rivals in the tech industry have a social media app — could shake up the process at the eleventh hour.
Shares of Amazon were up 2.5% in recent trading.
Amazon and TikTok already have ties: last August, they teamed up to let users shop Amazon products directly in the TikTok app. In January, JPMorgan analyst Brian Nowak said acquiring TikTok could help Amazon “build a viable social shopping network,” citing the app’s estimated 32 billion hours of US consumer engagement.
But good relations may not be enough to seal a deal. TikTok has repeatedly said it’s not for sale, arguing that any forced divestiture would likely be blocked by the Chinese government. TikTok has 170 million US users, equivalent to about half the US population, making its fate a high-stakes issue in Washington.
President Donald Trump, who could also theoretically push the date of the ban again, is set to meet with top White House officials Wednesday to discuss the app’s future.
