--- title: "Microsoft Offers to Buy TikTok Following Trump Crackdown" description: "Over the weekend, the Trump administration gave TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance 45 days to sell off the app — or get kicked out of the US market." date: "2020-08-03" modified: "2020-08-03" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/microsoft-offers-buy-tiktok" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "china" - "donald trump" - "the digest" - "tiktok" - "trump administration" --- # Microsoft Offers to Buy TikTok Following Trump Crackdown ![Over the weekend, the Trump administration gave TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance 45 days to sell off the app — or get kicked out of the US market.]() *\Image: Victor Tangermann\* ## Make It American Over the weekend, the Trump administration gave TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance 45 days to sell off the app — or get kicked out of the US market, [*Reuters* reports](). Microsoft is circling the news like a shark and has officially [confirmed]() in a blog post that it's interested in buying TikTok operations in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. That means the US software company has 45 days to make the move. ## So Desperate "Microsoft will move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, in a matter of weeks, and in any event completing these discussions no later than September 15, 2020," the company wrote in the blog post. Microsoft shares [surged 4.5 percent]() after markets opened today following the news. According to *Reuters*, Trump stepped away from [plans to ban TikTok]() in the US after Republican advisers told him the move would just end up alienating users and hurt his reelection chances in November. The move would also be met with plenty of lengthy and expensive legal challenges. ## Witch Hunt The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) will oversee negotiations between Microsoft and ByteDance. No exact sales figures have been announced. ByteDance has yet to even make an offer. China-US relations are at an all time low. Chinese state-backed newspaper *China Daily* called out the US for [starting a "witch hunt."]() **READ MORE:** [Trump administration gives TikTok 45 days to sell to Microsoft or leave US]() \[*Ars Technica*\] **More on TikTok:** *[The US May Ban TikTok, Trump Administration Says]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()