TikTok’s parent company ByteDance will spend billions on recruiting professionals in Singapore in the next few years. Reuters gathered this report on Friday.
It was previously reported that ByteDance would be erecting a data center in Singapore, but afterward, this was revealed as untrue. It was also revealed that the tech company was also planning on securing cloud-computing equipment in Singapore to reinforce U.S. data security.
Another source said that TikTok had mobilized its engineers from China to Singapore in early 2020. It was reported in Bloomberg that ByteDance was also eyeing Singapore as its headquarters in Asia. This move was part of its global development.
This massive move for ByteDance came after being forced to give up its U.S. assets. President Trump called TikTok a security risk as the app takes enormous amounts of data from its consumers.
Bloomberg also reported that ByteDance would likely miss its September 20 deadline, which President Trump gave to sell its assets. The company is being courted by bidders such as Microsoft, Walmart, and Oracle.
Meanwhile, President Trump said that the United States government would not give ByteDance an extension for its deadline on September 20. It has pressured negotiations even more as TikTok may be indefinitely banned in the country if an agreement won’t surface next week.
President Trump reminded ByteDance that the company would either close up or sell its assets. The president claimed that there is evidence that ByteDance may affect national security. After this claim, an executive order was issued to ban TikTok and ByteDance from leaving the country.
ByteDance and Microsoft are under negotiations for a possible sale, but until now, there are no results yet as to what will happen to the company’s U.S. assets. Other American tech firms have also started negotiations with ByteDance. However, new roadblocks were seen.
Other American companies like Oracle, Google, and Twitter are also eyeing TikTok’s sale. It is despite the scrutiny of the app’s security in other countries. For instance, TikTok is included as one of India’s banned Chinese apps due to national security concerns. Also, the French CNIL data security firm is investigating TikTok for security risks.
TikTok won’t back out without a fight. Just last month, TikTok sued President Trump’s administration, citing that they strongly disagree that they are a threat to national security as what the administration claims.
The company said that they are using strict measures to keep their user’s data secure by using U.S. and Singapore data centers. TikTok said that these shield their user data and other products of ByteDance, such as Douyin.
And despite apps such as Instagram claiming that they can be TikTok alternatives with their limited vide sharing capabilities, TikTok remains more popular than ever before. According to an analytics survey, the app is one of the most downloaded apps all over the world, with 63.3 million users.
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