Microsoft confirmed last month that it was in talks to buy TikTok's operations in the US, but today the Redmond-based company said that that deal won't be happening.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Microsoft said that TikTok owner ByteDance will not be selling TikTok's US operations to Microsoft. There's no reason given as to why Microsoft won't be buying TikTok's US business.
Here's Microsoft's full statement:
"ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users, while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant changes to ensure the service met the highest standards for security, privacy, online safety, and combatting disinformation, and we made these principles clear in our August statement. We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas."
Instead of Microsoft, rumors say that Oracle will be buying the US operations of TikTok. A report from the Wall Street Journal says that Oracle will be announced as TikTok's "trusted tech partner" in the US and that the deal will not likely be structured as an outright sale.
The details of the deal aren't known.
If Oracle and TikTik owner ByteDance have indeed agreed to a deal, it'll have to be approved by the White House and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US. The source of today's report says that both Oracle and ByteDance are confident that their deal satisfies the US government's concerns about data security and TikTok.