The US retail giant Walmart said it would be teaming up with Microsoft to make a bid for TikTok’s US operations. Walmart told the BBC that it thought a partnership with the Chinese video-sharing app would help it grow its market. TikTok was given 90 days to sell his U.S. arm to a U.S. corporation or face a country ban. Donald Trump has alleged that he shares user data with Beijing-he denies it. The manager of the company resigned earlier on Thursday, ahead of the imminent ban.
Microsoft, which announced it was in talks with TikTok at the beginning of August, told the BBC it had “nothing to say at this time.” With Walmart, which owns the UK’s Asda supermarket chain, it will now come up against other prospective bidders, including US tech giant Oracle. TikTok’s US operations could get as much as $30bn (£22bn) if an agreement is reached according to reports. Tiktok has attracted a huge following since its global launch at the end of 2018, particularly among the under-25s. The app allows its followers to create short videos with the aid of a robust song database and a wide range of filters.
Trump Administration Accusations
The Trump administration, however, has accused its maker, Bytedance. It is a Chinese internet company, of being a threat to US national security. So, it says the data that the company gathers from its 800 million users-100 million. It is of whom estimate to be in the United States at risk of misuse by the Chinese Government. Also, India’s government also blocked TikTok, along with hundreds of more Chinese-made devices. Thus, alleging that they are “surreptitiously” transmitting data from users. Beijing has rejected allegations of this kind, calling the US ban politically motivated.
ByteDance founder, Zhang Yiming, rebuke for his decision to sell to a US corporation. But he states in a letter to his Chinese workers. Thus, this is the only way to save the device from going down in America. It’s not the only Chinese-owned application to draw US authorities’ suspicion-the WeChat messaging app is also facing a ban.
