Elon Musk has indicated that he’s open to resurrecting the defunct video platform, Vine, after a ban shut down TikTok over the weekend to millions of users in the U.S. Musk, who owns social media rival X,

After years of rejecting the idea of a sale of TikTok’s US assets to an American buyer in order to avert a ban, China and ByteDance may have found an owner they could live with: Elon Musk.

Elon Musk swooping in to buy TikTok before a US ban is set to bite? It seems like a stretch, but it could also make some sense, Peter Kafka writes.

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.

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.

Chinese government officials are reportedly mulling selling TikTok's US operations to Elon Musk to avoid a complete ban in the country.

The president-elect and Joe Biden are reportedly exploring legal avenues for keeping the app accessible. Meanwhile, a growing list of entrepreneurs are said to be weighing a buyout.

In the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from Friday the app was to shut down after the court upheld a bipartisan law that banned TikTok nationwide, provided it was still controlled by its Chinese parent company.

The app went dark nationwide on Saturday night, but the company indicated it was in the process of restoring the service after assurances from President-elect Donald J. Trump.

TikTok has gone dark in the U.S., but that may not be permanent. U.S. TikTok users lost access to the app late Saturday, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a bipartisan law that banned TikTok nationwide, provided it was still controlled by its Chinese parent company.

Elon Musk criticized the situation where TikTok operates in the US, but X is banned in China, calling it unbalanced and emphasizing the need for change, while also expressing his long-standing opposition to banning TikTok.