TikTok may have found a workaround for its potential U.S. ban through U.S. investors, CNN reports.
Investors from companies such as General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital are showing considerable interest in purchasing a majority stake from TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance.
The investors are even in discussions with the U.S. Department of Treasury and more to see if investing would “quell US concerns about the company,” CNN noted.
President Trump’s election campaign warned users of the app through Facebook ads last weekend, according to arstechnica. Concerns have sprung over TikTok’s widespread usage and the potential data it provides to TikTok and its owners.
“[The buyout] is the only viable plan,” an anonymous source said to arstechnica.
According to CNBC, the move is the latest in the growing tensions between China and the U.S., which has included the U.S.’s allegation that two Chinese hackers targeted American companies doing virus research.
China’s Houston consulate also shut down this week, with the U.S. claiming the need to “protect intellectual property and the data of private citizens,” CNBC reports.
“It’s really difficult to see how the U.S. and the West and China can get back to normal,” Rockefeller Asset Management Chief Investment Strategist Jimmy Chang said, according to CNBC.
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