Chinese officials are evaluating a potential option that involves Elon Musk acquiring the US operations of TikTok if the company fails to fend off a controversial ban on the short-video app, according to people familiar with the matter.

Officials at TikTok said they could not be expected to comment on pure fiction when asked about rumors China was looking into having Elon Musk acquire the social media platform.

Musk acquired X (then Twitter) in October 2022 after a highly publicized back and forth, in which he gave up on the acquisition midway but ultimately closed the deal, paying $44 billion for the platform. X's user base has been on a decline since the acquisition, and advertising revenues have plummeted.

With the clock running down on an impending US ban, China is considering an interesting contingency plan for TikTok. Officials in Beijing are said to be evaluating a potential option that involves Elon Musk acquiring the US operation of the short-video app if the company fails to fend off the controversial ban.

Elon Musk has apparently come up as a candidate to buy TikTok if the U.S. government's ban goes through. Earlier this year, a law was passed requiring

TikTok rejected a report Monday that the Chinese government is mulling a proposal to sell the company’s U.S. operations to billionaire Elon Musk to keep the app from being banned in America. Bloomberg first reported the idea was just one option on the table as the U.