Elon Musk Affirms Not Interested In Buying TikTok

Elon Musk, not interested in buying TikTok (photo: x @SinghMalvi65023)

JAKARTA Billionaire Elon Musk insists that he is not interested in buying TikTok, a popular short video app that is facing a ban threat in the United States due to national security concerns related to ownership by Chinese company ByteDance.

Musk's statement was made in an interview conducted at the end of January and published online on Saturday by The WELT Group, part of German media firm Axel Springer SE. On that occasion, the Tesla CEO was present at the video conference.

"I did not make an offer for TikTok," Musk said, a week after US President Donald Trump said he was open to the possibility of Musk buying the ByteDance app if he wanted it.

Musk also added that he had no plans regarding TikTok if he had it. "I don't use the short video app and I'm not very familiar with the format," he said.

Musk also stressed that he is not used to buying companies, given that Twitter's (now called X) social media acquisition is a rare exception in his journey as an entrepreneur. "I usually build companies from scratch," he added.

Donald Trump, who is now running for president, has previously signed an executive order to postpone the implementation of the TikTok ban which was supposed to take effect on January 19.

The US government has given ByteDance a deadline until January to sell TikTok assets in the United States or face a total ban. The main concern of US legislators is the potential access of the Chinese government to TikTok user data in America, even though TikTok has denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, Apple and Google have not returned TikTok to their app stores since US laws banning the app came into effect. TikTok states that it now allows Android users in the US to download apps through their websites as an attempt to overcome restrictions.

Trump himself stated that he was in discussions with several parties about the possibility of purchasing TikTok and would soon make a decision this month. Currently, TikTok has around 170 million users in the United States.

This week, Trump also signed an executive order to set up state assets that could potentially buy TikTok within a year. However, ByteDance has yet to confirm that they have no plans to sell the app.

Trump's latest statement about TikTok marks a change in attitude compared to his first term of office, where he sought to ban the app for national security reasons. However, recently he admitted to having a "special place in his heart for TikTok" and claimed that the app played an important role in helping him attract the attention of young voters in the 2024 elections.

ByteDance and TikTok have yet to provide an official response to this latest development.