United States based technology giant Microsoft Corp. is in talks with the Chinese short video pp TikTok to buy out the operations of the app in the United States as well as in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Microsoft has confirmed in a blog post on Sunday.
The company has also confirmed that Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella also had a word with US President Donald Trump over the phone about how the company can obtain the support for the purchase of the wildly popular, but besieged, music video app.
The US tech giant has also confirmed that it aims to close the deal by September 15 this year itself.
Previously, Trump had suggested that his administration could impose a total ban on the app on national security grounds while also lambasting the idea of a deal late Friday night. There were reports of the software giant holding closed-door discussions with TikTok and Trump about the deal before it was made public.
According to reports quoting sources, Microsoft and TikTok have a maximum of 45 days to create a plan for a deal that will be acceptable to all concerned parties. The deadline has been insisted upon by the White House, said reports which also informed that no key details of a possible deal, such as price, have been worked out by the two companies.
In recent months, law makers in the US have voiced concerns about the Chinese company Bytedance Ltd., which owns TikTok, could be legally forced by China to hand over data of American users who have registered on the app or Beijing could exert influence on the 165 million Americans as well as more than 2 billion users globally who had downloaded the app. That has put TikTok in the political cross hair.
Microsoft will also include added security, privacy and digital safety protections to the video sharing app and will make sure that all personal data of American users hat have already been transferred outside of the US will be brought into the country and be deleted permanently form the servers in foreign lines, Microsoft said in the blog post. Microsoft may also make invites to other American investors to take up minority stakes in TikTok, the company also said.
"Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President's concerns," the company said. "It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury."
If the deal ultimately goes through, it would be a dramatic government intervention in a private enterprise and could also possibly change the global technology landscape, say analysts. Microsoft will get hold of a prominent platform in the area of consumer social media and online advertising and possible also threaten to bring an end to the era of globalization in the tech industry.
(Source:www.ndtv.com)
The company has also confirmed that Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella also had a word with US President Donald Trump over the phone about how the company can obtain the support for the purchase of the wildly popular, but besieged, music video app.
The US tech giant has also confirmed that it aims to close the deal by September 15 this year itself.
Previously, Trump had suggested that his administration could impose a total ban on the app on national security grounds while also lambasting the idea of a deal late Friday night. There were reports of the software giant holding closed-door discussions with TikTok and Trump about the deal before it was made public.
According to reports quoting sources, Microsoft and TikTok have a maximum of 45 days to create a plan for a deal that will be acceptable to all concerned parties. The deadline has been insisted upon by the White House, said reports which also informed that no key details of a possible deal, such as price, have been worked out by the two companies.
In recent months, law makers in the US have voiced concerns about the Chinese company Bytedance Ltd., which owns TikTok, could be legally forced by China to hand over data of American users who have registered on the app or Beijing could exert influence on the 165 million Americans as well as more than 2 billion users globally who had downloaded the app. That has put TikTok in the political cross hair.
Microsoft will also include added security, privacy and digital safety protections to the video sharing app and will make sure that all personal data of American users hat have already been transferred outside of the US will be brought into the country and be deleted permanently form the servers in foreign lines, Microsoft said in the blog post. Microsoft may also make invites to other American investors to take up minority stakes in TikTok, the company also said.
"Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President's concerns," the company said. "It is committed to acquiring TikTok subject to a complete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the United States, including the United States Treasury."
If the deal ultimately goes through, it would be a dramatic government intervention in a private enterprise and could also possibly change the global technology landscape, say analysts. Microsoft will get hold of a prominent platform in the area of consumer social media and online advertising and possible also threaten to bring an end to the era of globalization in the tech industry.
(Source:www.ndtv.com)
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