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Microsoft has confirmed that it is in talks to purchase the US operations of TikTok.
It comes after Donald Trump said he wanted to ban the popular app over the weekend, which sees users sharing short-form videos and has over 80 million users in the US.
Now, Microsoft boss Satya Nadella has spoken with Trump about a possible acquisition of the Chinese-owned app, according to the tech firm.
The company released a statement saying: “Microsoft fully appreciates the importance of addressing the President’s concerns. 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.”
Microsoft said it was looking to purchase the service in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and emphasised that it would ensure that “all private data of TikTok’s American users” was transferred to and remained in the US.
The tech firm also said it would ensure that any data currently stored or backed up outside the country would be deleted from servers after it was transferred to US data centres.
Microsoft added that it “appreciates the US Government’s and President Trump’s personal involvement as it continues to develop strong security protections for the country.”
Speaking to reporters over the weekend, President Trump said: “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States.”
It comes amid US fears for data-security at the Chinese-owned platform at a time when US-China relations continue to deteriorate.
Whilst he did not specify how he would achieve what he described as a “severance”, he did say the ban could come into force as early as the weekend.
“Well, I have that authority. I can do it with an executive order or that,” he added.
Launched by ByteDance in 2017, the service had over two billion downloads in April.
Meanwhile, The Weeknd recently shared details of a new live event on TikTok, with the social media platform describing the show as their “first-ever in-app cross reality experience”.
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