Amazon has officially submitted a proposal to the US government to acquire TikTok's US business from China's ByteDance, according to multiple sources including the New York Times, Bloomberg, and Reuters. The proposal has been delivered to senior US administration officials including President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Commerce Secretary Lutnick, with the White House and Commerce Department currently reviewing it.
Background: Congress passed the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" in January, requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok's US business by April 5, 2025 or face complete service bans from US app stores and internet hosting services. Other potential acquirers include Oracle and private equity firm Blackstone. Amazon's participation is notable as TikTok's user base, advertising revenue model, and content recommendation algorithm could create synergies with Amazon's content and cloud businesses.
President Trump is expected to hold a senior-level meeting this week to make the final decision on TikTok's US business. Trump previously labeled TikTok a "national security threat." TikTok has approximately 170 million US users and has faced government pressure over national security concerns, while ByteDance denies these concerns. Amazon previously acquired live video platform Twitch in 2014 and developed the TikTok-similar short-form video platform "Inspire" — shut down earlier this year. "This TikTok US business acquisition competition transcends simple M&A, having emerged as the frontline of US-China tech hegemony conflict. TikTok's survival in the US will significantly impact the direction of future global tech regulation and digital platform sovereignty debate."
