According to sources familiar with the matter, Beijing officials are insisting that TikTok remains under the ownership of its parent company, ByteDance Ltd., and the company is contesting the upcoming ban by appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, judges during the debates on January 10 indicated that they are likely to support the law.
High-ranking Chinese officials have already begun discussing contingency plans for TikTok as part of a broader conversation on how to engage with the Trump administration, which involves Musk.
A potential deal with one of Trump's closest allies holds particular appeal for the Chinese government, which is expected to have some influence over whether TikTok is ultimately sold.
One scenario being discussed by the Chinese government is that Musk's X, formerly Twitter, would take control of TikTok US and manage the business. With over 170 million users in the U.S., TikTok could bolster X's efforts to attract advertisers. Musk has also founded a separate artificial intelligence company, xAI, which could benefit from the vast amounts of data generated by TikTok.