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Amazon Makes Last Minute Offer for TikTok as Ban Looms

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Retail giant Amazon today made an offer to acquire TikTok just days ahead of when TikTok must be sold off or face a ban, reports The New York Times. Unspecified participants involved in the TikTok talks "do not appear to be taking Amazon's bid seriously," and multiple interested parties are scrambling to plead their cases for a TikTok purchase.

TikTok-on-iPhone.jpg

As of January 19, the Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act that bans TikTok from operating in the U.S. under Chinese control has been in effect, but U.S. President Donald Trump gave TikTok a reprieve by ordering the Department of Justice to not enforce the law for a 75-day period. That window is set to expire on Saturday, April 5, and a sale of TikTok's U.S. operations must be arranged by that time or the app will be shut down again.

The Trump administration has been considering offers from companies like Oracle and Perplexity, along with individuals like Jimmy Donaldson (also known as MrBeast), Shark Tank host Kevin O'Leary, Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley, and billionaire Frank McCourt. Trump plans to meet with White House officials on Wednesday to discuss what will happen with TikTok, and he has maintained that he will make the final decision on the app's future.

It is possible that Trump will decide on a deal that includes bringing on multiple U.S. investors, including Oracle and private equity firm Blackstone. Such a deal would not be a formal sale, and may not meet the requirements of the law.

TikTok parent company ByteDance has said that it will not sell TikTok, but it is not clear if that is still the case with a ban on the horizon. While the law is set to go back into effect on April 5, Trump could opt for another deadline extension.

Article Link: Amazon Makes Last Minute Offer for TikTok as Ban Looms
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/04/02/amazon-tiktok-offer/
MacRumors said:
It is possible that Trump will decide on a deal that includes bringing on multiple U.S. investors, including Oracle and private equity firm Blackstone. Such a deal would not be a formal sale, and may not meet the requirements of the law.
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I love my blackstone grill. Didn’t know they were doing that well though. Lots of people must be in on the hibachi train.
 
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MacRumors said:
The Trump administration has been considering offers from companies like Oracle and Perplexity, along with individuals like Jimmy Donaldson (also known as MrBeast), Shark Tank host Kevin O'Leary, Employer.com founder Jesse Tinsley, and billionaire Frank McCourt. Trump plans to meet with White House officials on Wednesday to discuss what will happen with TikTok, and he has maintained that he will make the final decision on the app's future.

It is possible that Trump will decide on a deal that includes bringing on multiple U.S. investors, including Oracle and private equity firm Blackstone. Such a deal would not be a formal sale, and may not meet the requirements of the law.

TikTok parent company ByteDance has said that it will not sell TikTok, but it is not clear if that is still the case with a ban on the horizon. While the law is set to go back into effect on April 5, Trump could opt for another deadline extension.
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Before writing stuff like this, it would be really helpful to provide additional reporting.

How can the Trump administration consider offers when it's not theirs to sell?

I understand that they may consider what will happen if Bytedance doesn't sell, but that's an entirely different thing to what it says here.
 
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JPack said:
Pretty much this, the national security law prevents the sale. And would anyone be dumb enough to sell the secret playbook that generates billions? The U.S. bluff was already called in January. If you want to ban, fine. The rest of the world will still use it.
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I think there are about 6 countries that would follow the US' lead.

TikTok is pretty evil. So evil I am surprised Google doesn't own it.
 
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d686546s said:
Before writing stuff like this, it would be really helpful to provide additional reporting.

How can the Trump administration consider offers when it's not theirs to sell?

I understand that they may consider what will happen if Bytedance doesn't sell, but that's an entirely different thing to what it says here.
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I interpreted this as him/his admin acting like a mediator. Considering his EO paused the ban, extending the window for discussion, it makes sense to continue a role in negotiations between prospective buyers and Bytedance. He clearly has some interest in keeping TikTok operation stateside, what better way to accomplish this than facilitating an agreement?
Although I don’t believe Bytedance will sell anyway.
 
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AgentOSX said:
I hope they just ban it. I am no fan of that kind of governmental actions, but TikTok is just evil on almost every front and I have never seen it benefit anyone under the age of 20 in any way.
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My teens have used it for years (my daughter introduced it to us back in the "Music.ly" days), as have I and my wife. We generally find our algorithms there to be more friendly, positive, and growth-focused rather than how Meta's feels (toxic). TikTok specifically has been an integral resource for my ongoing education about autism and neurodiversity as I raise my younger son who is autistic. Facebook just thinks I'm into boat crashes. I'm not into boat crashes. I mean, ok... maybe one.
 
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It's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out as Congress and the previous President signed into law the requirement for a sale. Then it has already been upheld by the Supreme Court. A good test of the limitations of executive power.
 
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mansplains said:
I interpreted this as him/his admin acting like a mediator. Considering his EO paused the ban, extending the window for discussion, it makes sense to continue a role in negotiations between prospective buyers and Bytedance. He clearly has some interest in keeping TikTok operation stateside, what better way to accomplish this than facilitating an agreement?
Although I don’t believe Bytedance will sell anyway.
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If that's the case then that's exactly the additional contextual information that is absent from the article, because the Administration cannot sell TikTok.

I just find it odd that in an article about the potential sale of TikTok the primary decision maker is barely mentioned.
 
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mansplains said:
I interpreted this as him/his admin acting like a mediator. Considering his EO paused the ban, extending the window for discussion, it makes sense to continue a role in negotiations between prospective buyers and Bytedance. He clearly has some interest in keeping TikTok operation stateside, what better way to accomplish this than facilitating an agreement?
Although I don’t believe Bytedance will sell anyway.
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It's not Trump's or ByteDance's call. Not to mention the elephant in the room, but the final decision maker on any sale of ByteDance's American operations is - the Chinese government.
 
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AgentOSX said:
I hope they just ban it. I am no fan of that kind of governmental actions, but TikTok is just evil on almost every front and I have never seen it benefit anyone under the age of 20 in any way.
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Evil? Lmao.

I use it daily and it keeps me aware of the news in other countries I otherwise would not know.

It entertains.

It creates bonding experiences for families who partake in the latest trends

I am learning more about other ppls culture.

It has networked me with people in my work field.

Lmao there’s nothing evil about TikTok. That’s melodramatic
 
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Spock said:
I’m not sure that’s true. Most ditched RedNote as soon as TikTok came back online.
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Back is sorta the operative word- sure Folks went back but I can tell you since they switched it back on. They absolutely are under some sort of Facebook algorithm or Meta algorithm because it is trash. Any video I used to get we get 3 to 5000 views now no more than 300 ever all ads all Facebook ads until you block them disconnecting you from people you were connected to for years and years and years on the platform junk behavior - so Folks went over to RedNote created a spot and they’ll go back when it’s time. And I will add going back over to that algorithm on red note. It is much calmer much less anxiety inducing.
 
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d686546s said:
How can the Trump administration consider offers when it's not theirs to sell?
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The government is considering "offers" as they will have final approval on buyer(s). ByteDance would still have final say on purchase price and other financial terms. They can also choose not to sell and face potential ban.
 
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