Amazon has made a last-minute offer to buy TikTok’s U.S. business as the video-sharing platform has until April to become free of its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, or else be banned in the United States. The offer was made by way of a letter addressed to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, underscoring Amazon’s willingness to assume ownership of TikTok in light of heightened political and legal maneuverings in Washington.
Even with Amazon’s involvement, insiders suggest that the bid is not taken seriously by most of the parties negotiating. This is in line with U.S. lawmakers continuing to express national security concerns over the fact that TikTok is owned in China, and this has spurred the move to have it sold through legislation. President Trump, who previously brought up these concerns, halted the enforcement of the law mandating the sale of TikTok through divestiture until Saturday. He is set to meet White House advisers to deliberate on the platform’s future.
Amazon’s bid follows interest from other firms like Microsoft and Walmart. The firm already has a connection to TikTok in its retail ecosystem, where products listed on Amazon are often showcased by influencers, driving significant sales. Amazon attempted to replicate TikTok’s popularity with its Inspire feature for short videos, but the platform never gained traction and was discontinued earlier in the year.
Other potential structures have been explored, such as U.S. investor transactions like Oracle and Blackstone, which might avoid outright sale of TikTok. But it is not clear that such alternatives would satisfy federal legal requirements.
TikTok has stuck to its line that it will not sell out, citing potential opposition from the Chinese government for any deal related to its shareholding structure. Amazon’s bid, on the other hand, points to its strategic interest in using TikTok’s social commerce influence to complement its own retail business. The fate of TikTok hangs in the balance with negotiations ongoing and political pressure being mounted over data security and compliance issues.
