What year are we in? It’s 2025, and yet here we are again with news of Microsoft potentially swooping in for TikTok.
If you’re not up to speed, last year, the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring TikTok, a China-based social media giant, to either sell off its U.S. operations or shut down altogether. This legislation was signed into law by former President Joe Biden. When TikTok initially refused to sell, it led to the app going offline last Sunday. However, it resurfaced quickly, accompanied by a pop-up expressing gratitude to the new President Trump for giving the platform a temporary lifeline.
President Trump has allowed TikTok a 90-day period to sort things out, but neither Google Play nor Apple’s App Store has re-listed the app due to the legislation. This leaves TikTok in a tight spot — it must either cease operations in the U.S. or find a buyer soon.
According to a report from NPR, referenced by The Verge, Microsoft enters the scene once more as a potential buyer for TikTok.
TikTok has faced worldwide criticism for its addictive algorithms, known for ensnaring users in echo chambers and fueling radical ideologies. The U.S. has labeled TikTok as a national security threat due to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, and its alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party. There’s concern that TikTok might be used to disseminate propaganda or track American citizens. Meanwhile, in Europe, the app is under investigation for possibly contributing to the rise of extremist political parties and distributing pro-Putin narratives.
Speculation suggests that the White House is working on a strategy where Oracle might acquire TikTok’s global operations, allowing ByteDance to retain a minority share. Microsoft is also reportedly in these discussions, though details of Microsoft’s involvement are scant. So far, none of the companies involved have chosen to comment on the matter.
TikTok is phenomenally popular among Gen Alpha and Gen Z, making it a massive player in the social media landscape. This image (courtesy of Windows Central) perfectly encapsulates its widespread appeal.
When we look at the current social media landscape, Meta holds sway over Facebook and Instagram, Google dominates with YouTube, Amazon owns Twitch, and Microsoft has … LinkedIn.
Sure, LinkedIn is a huge and profitable platform, but it’s more about business networking than shaping cultural trends. Now, imagine if Microsoft controlled a platform like TikTok. It would provide a vast opportunity to boost its consumer base for products like Windows, Surface, and Xbox. Think about the potential integration between Xbox and TikTok, or even a sleek TikTok-inspired video editing tool for Windows. Although, let’s be honest, similar hopes were pinned on Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype, and we all know how that unfolded.
Realistically, Microsoft might not end up owning TikTok, but interestingly enough, TikTok is a major customer of Microsoft’s Azure AI services. A lot of TikTok’s innovative machine learning features rely on Azure, even though most of its network is hosted on Oracle’s cloud platform. So, it looks like Microsoft’s involvement might just revolve around this Azure AI contract.
But what if things took a different turn?
