With TikTok’s Fate in the Air, Buyers Look to U.S. Cloud Providers Google and Microsoft

The deadline for TikTok to secure a U.S. investor is closing in on April 5. According to The Information, there are “talks” about which provider potential bidders may be interested in hosting.

Microsoft and Google — both part of the “Big Three” cloud providers alongside AWS — are apparently possible options. The interested bidders are likely companies that don’t have their own cloud computing resources, such as smaller investors.

TikTok is currently hosted by Oracle, which nearly acquired the app before the deal fell through under President Biden around 2021, though there is resurged speculation about whether Oracle will make another attempt.

The April 5 deadline isn’t random: In January, TikTok was nearly banned in the U.S., only to receive an extension hours before the cutoff.

TikTok faces this dilemma because of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACAA), a law that went into effect under the Biden administration in March 2024.

The purpose of PAFACAA is to protect national security from foreign-controlled applications, especially those tied to China. Thanks to President Trump, potential buyers were given an additional 75 days, but that extension period is just about to expire.

Still, it wouldn’t be surprising if Trump extended the deadline again, as he’s recently leveraged this power with new tariffs which have already been postponed more than once.

While President Trump can temporarily suspend enforcement, repealing the law entirely would require congressional approval.

If there isn’t a U.S. buyer by April 5, the app could be banned, ultimately displacing 170 million users and 7 million businesses that depend on it for income. In 2023 alone, TikTok contributed $24.2 billion to the U.S. economy.

“This study demonstrates what we at TikTok already knew: It’s a game changer for small businesses and has a significant impact on the U.S. economy,” said Blake Chandlee, TikTok’s President of Global Business Solutions.

So, will TikTok secure a buyer, or will another extension push the decision down the road? We’ll see on April 5.