Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates shared his thoughts on the potential Microsoft-TikTok deal in a recent interview with Wired.
When asked about the company’s decision to acquire TikTok’s US operations, Gates said it’s anybody’s guess on what’s going to happen with the deal. He added that the potential deal is “a poisoned chalice” as “being big in the social media business is no simple game, like the encryption issue”.
Gates felt that the decision by US President Trump’s decision to eliminate the only Facebook competitor is “pretty bizzare”. Moreover, the underlying reason pitched by the US government to acquire TikTok is “singly strange” and the request to let the US Treasury have some cut from the deal is “doubly strange”.
Nonetheless, he says Microsoft has to deal with all these issues.
Microsoft is reportedly looking at acquiring the global business of TikTok, and discussions between both parties are reportedly like playing a “multi-dimensional chess”.
Microsoft and ByteDance (the parent company of TikTok) have to reach a deal no later than Sept 15 before the US government enforces a ban. TikTok has released an official statement criticising US President Trump’s executive order.
This article was first published in Hardware Zone.
