Amazon tells White House it’s interested in buying TikTok

Amazon has told the White House it is interested in buying TikTok ahead of a key deadline by which its parent company, China-based ByteDance, must either sell the popular social media app or face a ban in the U.S., CBS News has learned, according to two people familiar with discussions. 

Amazon has submitted a bid for the app, the New York Times reported earlier, citing people familiar with the matter. Another plan under consideration is for a new entity backed by U.S. companies like BlackRock and Oracle to lease TikTok’s algorithm from ByteDance, according to a source familiar with the situation. 

Both Amazon and TikTok declined to comment on the matter. 

Amazon’s bid comes after lawmakers last year passed a bill setting a Jan. 19 deadline for the sale, which Mr. Trump extended for 75 days. He set a deadline of Saturday, April 5, for ByteDance to either sell its stake in the app or be forced to shut down in the U.S.

The retail giant made the offer in a letter addressed to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to people familiar with the matter, the New York Times reported. 

Retail industry analysts say Amazon’s interest in TikTok underscores the social app’s importance to online retailers, given its ability to drive e-commerce purchases.

“While Amazon is the No. 1 destination for searching for products, it remains a channel that is most suited to planned and specific purchases,” GlobalData managing director Neil Saunders said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch. “It has certainly made some inroads into becoming a place for consumer entertainment and discovery, which led to impulse purchases, but this is very much the preserve of TikTok and TikTok Shop. This more impulse driven part of the market is faster growing that more established e-commerce channels.”

AppLovin, a California-based mobile technology company, has also expressed interest in acquiring TikTok, a person familiar with the matter told CBS News. 

In remarks to reporters on Air Force One over the weekend, Mr. Trump addressed the matter of TikTok’s sale, saying, “We have a lot of potential buyers. There’s a lot of interest in TikTok. The decision is going to be my decision.” 

He added that he’d “like to see TikTok remain alive.”

The U.S. government has said TikTok poses a threat to national security because its vast trove of customer data, including browsing patterns, locations and biometric information, could end up in the hands of the Chinese authorities. 

Ahead of the initial divestiture deadline, ByteDance earlier this year briefly shut down TikTok in the U.S. Mr. Trump quickly paused the ban and the service was restored. 

The ban does not target TikTok’s U.S. users. But the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, signed into law in 2024 under former President Biden, would make it illegal for app stores and web-hosting services to distribute or service TikTok. 

contributed to this report.