Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok’s US operations in a move to revamp its advertising business. TikTok has come under immense pressure in the US due to security concerns and its Chinese connections.
President Trump said on Friday that the video app would be banned from the US.
Reuters says that Microsoft will be looking to take over TikTok’s video capabilities to capitalize on the lucrative video on demand for the broad audience. Video on demand has grown during the lockdown period as consumers are spending more time on online entertainment.
The US Committee on Foreign Investment had been investigating the app on the massive amount of data collected about Americans.
Further security concerns surrounding the location of servers used to store data on Americans and the information-sharing policy. Previous policies warned users that TikTok would share the information with the Chinese firms, law enforcement agencies, and government agents.
TikTok is owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance and has 2 billion downloads and over 165 million times in the United States.
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