Jan 14, Kathmandu- Chinese authorities are exploring the possibility of selling the US Tiktok operations to billionaire Elon Musk as the video-sharing platform faces a US law requiring it to immediately divest from China, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the report mentioned a scenario being discussed in Beijing in which Musk's social media company X would buy Tiktok from Chinese owner ByteDance and integrate it into the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The report estimates Tiktok's U.S. operations are worth between $40 billion and $50 billion. Although Musk is currently the world's richest person, it is unclear how Musk will be able to execute the transaction or whether he will have to sell other assets, Bloomberg said.

The US government passed a law last year requiring Tiktok's parent company, ByteDance, to either sell its hugely popular platform or shut it down. It will take effect on Sunday, a day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. 

The US government has accused Tiktok of allowing Beijing to collect data and spy on users, and that it is a means of propaganda.

China and ByteDance have strongly denied the claims. Tiktok has appealed the law to the US Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on Friday. 

At the hearing, a majority of the nine-member bench, made up of conservative and liberal judges, were skeptical of Tiktok's lawyers' argument that forcing the sale violated the First Amendment's right to free speech.

Bloomberg described Beijing's idea of ​​a potential Musk deal as "still preliminary," noting that Chinese officials have yet to reach an agreement on how to proceed.

Officials said it was unclear how much ByteDance knew about the Chinese government's plans. Tiktok did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment, but Variety quoted a representative as saying, "We cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction."

Musk, a close Trump ally, is expected to play an influential role in Washington over the next four years. He also runs electric car company Tesla. Tesla has a major factory in China, and the country is one of the automaker's biggest markets.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods, which would expand the trade war that began during his first term. It was broadly maintained and in some cases expanded by outgoing President Joe Biden.