ByteDance will not sell them businesses of TikTok based in America at Microsoft, as the Chinese company chose Oracle as its "trusted technology partner". Now more information is emerging as to why the software company from Redmond lost the battle to acquire the Chinese service.
Altough was considered to be able to buy TikTok, Microsoft seems to have outraged ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming when he cited the Chinese service as a security threat he wants to fix by transferring user data to the United States.
A Publication by the Daily Mail reveals that Zhang Yiming did not like Microsoft's approach at all, especially because the company sided with President Trump during the negotiations.
Microsoft said in a statement in August that it was continuing acquisition talks with ByteDance, but agreed to include a U.S. government spokesman in the talks.
“Microsoft will move quickly to resume discussions with TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, within weeks. In any event, it will conclude these discussions no later than September 15, 2020. During this process, Microsoft looks forward to continuing the dialogue with government of the United States, including the President. Microsoft appreciates the personal involvement of the US government and President Trump as they continue to develop strong security protections for the country."
In a statement this week, Microsoft confirmed that ByteDance had turned down its offer, revealing that the Chinese company had not responded to Microsoft's demands, especially as pressure from the Americans increased.
“ByteDance informs us that it will not sell TikTok's US-based businesses to Microsoft. We are sure that our proposal was good for them users of TikTok while protecting national security interests. To do this, we will be making significant changes to ensure the service meets the highest standards of security, privacy, online safety and anti-disinformation, and we made that clear from the start in a statement in August. We look forward to seeing how the service evolves in these important areas,” said Microsoft.
President Trump is expected to decide on the partnership between ByteDance and Oracle this week.
