Amazon makes shocking 'last-minute bid' to buy TikTok as deadline approaches to sell the app

Amazon has sent a letter proposing to buy TikTok to Vice President JD Vance, a US administration official has said.

Last year, President Joe Biden vowed to ban TikTok in the US, alleging the app poses 'a national-security threat of immense depth and scale' and on January 17 earlier this year, the country's Supreme Court upheld its ruling and the app 'went dark' days later.

After Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the US, he signed an executive order temporarily pausing the band, giving TikTok's parent - the Beijing-based ByteDance - until April 5 to either sell the app's US unit or indeed, or be prohibited.

Trump's executive order granted a 75-day extension for a potential deal, stating he intended to consult with advisors and heads of 'relevant departments and agencies on the national security concerns posed by TikTok'.

He continued: "And to pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans.

"My Administration must also review sensitive intelligence related to those concerns and evaluate the sufficiency of mitigation measures TikTok has taken to date."

Trump was reportedly set to consider a 'final proposal' by yesterday (April 2) and just days ahead of the deadline, a bid from Amazon has reportedly come in.

An official from the US administration said a letter had been sent from Jeff Bezos' company to Vice President JD Vance and Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the New York Times first reported.

However, sounding like a university tutor, the anonymous source reportedly said the bid isn't expected to be taken seriously given how closely it was submitted to the deadline.

UNILAD has contacted Amazon and TikTok for comment.

But why Amazon?

Amazon has reportedly put a bid in for TikTok (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Well, with TikTok not just a hub for people to post their dancing or lip-syncing videos to, but also a platform where people can recommend products to viewers - many of which are on Amazon.

Amazon isn't the only alleged horse in the race though, with four different groups having reportedly been in touch with Trump's administration to do with the sale of the US unit of the platform.

Blackstone - a private equity firm - is reported as discussing Byte-Dance's shareholders, Reuters reports, alongside the Financial Times reporting Andreessen Horowitz - a US venture capital firm - is also in talks to buy out TikTok's Chinese investors.

A ByteDance spokesperson told UNILAD: "ByteDance has been in discussion with the U.S. Government regarding a potential solution for TikTok U.S. An agreement has not been executed. There are key matters to be resolved. Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law."