Beijing (PingWest)—Microsoft plans to finish its acquisition talks with TikTok within the next three weeks before the September 15 deadline, CNBC reported Wednesday.
The Seattle-based company on Sunday confirmed the acquisition talks with TikTok's parent company ByteDance, saying it intended to buy the short video platform's business in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. Currently, Microsoft is the only apparent and leading bidder for TikTok.
Microsoft has reached an agreement with the US government to bring TikTok's code from China to the US within one year if the deal is reached. The two sides have not finalized a price for TikTok, but it may be between $10 billion and $30 billion, which is a big discount from the previous $50 billion acquisition plan.
It is said that the US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is “deeply participating" in this process. Previously, President Donald Trump said that the US Treasury should get a slice of the acquisition.
CNBC said that Microsoft could likely transfer TikTok’s software code, which could be up to 15 million lines of artificial intelligence, helping cement its position as the leading contender to acquire the company.
Earlier this month, The Trump administration publicly stated that it was considering banning TikTok over concerns about its relationship with China and the Chinese governments' access to user data and content review. Later, the President soften his attitude, stating that if an American company takes over TikTok before September 15, the social media app can be allowed to operate in the US.