Amazon has reportedly joined the growing list of bidders seeking to acquire TikTok as the new ban deadline approaches. According to The New York Times, the retailer has made a “last ditch bid” to buy the app and has approached Vice President J.D. Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Luthnick with a purchase offer.
It is unclear why Amazon is making the offer so late. Currently, TikTok has until April 5 to close the deal, although President Donald Trump has said he is likely to extend the deadline if necessary. The Times reports that White House officials do not seem to be “seriously” considering the long-awaited offer. Amazon declined to comment.
Amazon joins several other companies and investors who have offered bids. This group includes YouTuber MrBeast (backed by a group that includes Roblox CEO David Bashooki), Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian (who joined a group of investors known as “Project Liberty”), and Perplexity AI, which has proposed integrating short video into its search engine.
Even though the deadline is just a few days away, we still don’t know exactly when a decision on TikTok’s future will be made. Trump has said he wants to announce a deal before Saturday’s deadline.
