A representative for TikTok has denied a report claiming that China was working on selling the app to Elon Musk to keep it operational in the United States. On Monday, Bloomberg reported that Chinese officials were “evaluating a potential option that involves Elon Musk acquiring the US operations of TikTok” and that the Chinese government had discussed the option of Musk’s social media app X taking “control of TikTok US” and running

Chinese officials are reportedly exploring a backup plan for TikTok after the Supreme Court appeared unlikely to save it from a US ban. With TikTok’s legal options nearly exhausted, multiple news outlets are reporting that China is considering an option it previously said it wouldn’t: letting ByteDance sell the app.

Musk acquired X (then Twitter) in October 2022 after a highly publicized back and forth, in which he gave up on the acquisition midway but ultimately closed the deal, paying $44 billion for the platform. X's user base has been on a decline since the acquisition, and advertising revenues have plummeted.