Elon Musk says he does not plan to be TikTok’s savior in the United States.
“I have not actually put in a bid for TikTok and I don’t have any plans for what would I do if I had TikTok,” Musk said during a virtual appearance at a recent business conference in Germany.
Former President Joe Biden signed a law last year that requires ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to divest from the popular social media app or face a ban from US app stores. The US government worries TikTok’s Chinese ownership presents a security risk.
The Supreme Court upheld the law in January before President Donald Trump signed an executive order giving ByteDance another 75 days to find a buyer.
Several investors have expressed interest in purchasing TikTok, including “Shark Tank” mogul Kevin O’Leary and former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. Some have also wondered if Musk, who bought Twitter in 2022 and rebranded it X, might also throw up his hand.
Musk’s first public comments on the matter came via video call at the WELT Economic Summit in Berlin, a gathering of politicians and CEOs hosted by Axel Springer, on January 28. Axel Springer is Business Insider’s parent company.
Musk told the summit’s guests he does not personally use TikTok and that he is “not chomping at the bit” to acquire the app.
He said his acquisition of Twitter was a “rare” and “highly unusual” purchase. He said the acquisition has been “difficult” and “quite painful,” but that he bought the company because he thought it was important to “preserve freedom of speech in America.”
“I usually build companies from scratch,” Musk added.
Lawyers for TikTok argued at the Supreme Court that banning the app in the United States would infringe on its users’ right to free speech.
Musk, however, said he only sees monetary reasons to buy the app.
“I don’t know if the same logic applies to TikTok,” He said, referring to the reasons he purchased Twitter. “I don’t acquire things just for economic reasons. So it’s not clear to me what the purpose of acquiring TikTok would be apart from economics.”
ByteDance has said it does not plan to sell TikTok, which means that if Trump does not intervene, TikTok could go dark in the United States by April.
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