In order to avoid a potential ban in the United States, Chinese officials are considering a contingency plan that would involve selling TikTok's US operations to Elon Musk, said a Bloomberg report.

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The report further said that the first preference of the Chinese officials will be to keep the short-form video hosting platform under the control of parent company ByteDance, however, they are exploring other contingencies if that cannot be achieved.

One of the scenarios will be to let Musk's microblogging site X take charge of TikTok US and run the business with him. 

The Chinese officials, however, are reportedly still in the early stages of discussion and have not yet reached a firm consensus on the best course of action.

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A TikTok spokesperson has denied rumours about Musk buying the popular app, labelling them "pure fiction". When asked to comment on the potential sale, they said, "We can't be expected to comment on pure fiction."

ByteDance is contesting the ban against TikTok in the US Supreme Court. As per the recent developments, there is a possibility that the judges will uphold any potential ban on the short video platform.

The Supreme Court had given a January 19 deadline to ByteDance that the company should either sell TikTok or face a ban in the country on the grounds of national security.

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Also read: 'Truly evil guy': Trump’s ex-aide Steve Bannon vows to take Elon Musk down before inauguration day

Trump urges US Supreme Court to pause TikTok ban ahead of inauguration 

Then US President-elect Donald Trump had urged the Supreme Court to delay its decision.

In a legal brief, Trump's team argued for "more breathing space".

"In light of the novelty and difficulty of this case, the court should consider staying the statutory deadline to grant more breathing space to address these issues," Trump's legal team wrote, urging the court to give him "the opportunity to pursue a political resolution."

In his filing, Trump's attorney emphasised that the president-elect is not taking a position on the case's legal merits but is seeking flexibility for his administration to address the matter politically. 

"President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute," wrote John Sauer in the amicus curiae brief.

"Instead, he respectfully requests that the court consider staying the act's deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case, thus permitting President Trump's incoming administration the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case."

(With inputs from agencies) 

Disclaimer: An earlier version of this story reported that China was considering selling TikTok US to Elon Musk. However, as per a fact-check by Fact Crescendo, the claim was found false. The article has, hence, been updated