Microsoft Confirms Plans to Acquire US Arm of TikTok

NEW YORK, KOMPAS.com - Microsoft has confirmed reports that it is in talks with the Chinese company, ByteDance, which owns the popular video app TikTok.

Microsoft has stated that it is interested in acquiring the US arm of TikTok.

The American Big Tech company has further discussed with President Donald Trump his concerns about security and censorship related to the acquisition.

In a statement, the American company said that Microsoft and ByteDance have provided notice of their intent to explore a deal in which Microsoft would own and operate the TikTok service in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

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Talks with ByteDance is expected to conclude by Sept. 15.

Trump said on Friday that he would soon ban TikTok in the United States.

Trump and CEO Satya Nadella have spoken, the company said, and Microsoft was prepared to continue exploring the purchase of TikTok's US operations after their conversation.

“Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns. It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury,” the Microsoft statement said.

The White House did not immediately comment on the Microsoft statement.

Previously, there were reports that Microsoft was in advanced talks to buy the US operations of TikTok, which has been a source of national security and censorship concerns for the Trump administration.

Earlier Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo again raised the administration's warnings about social media platform.

“These Chinese software companies doing business in the United States, whether it’s TikTok or WeChat — there are countless more ... are feeding data directly to the Chinese Communist Party, their national security apparatus,” Mike Pompeo said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

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“Could be their facial recognition patterns. It could be information about their residence, their phone numbers, their friends, who they’re connected to. Those — those are the issues that President Trump has made clear we’re going to take care of," Pompeo said.