The AppLovin logo arranged on a laptop in New York on Feb. 26, 2025.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images
AppLovin is one of the companies in negotiations to potentially acquire TikTok, sources familiar with the situation told CNBC’s David Faber on Wednesday.
The Trump administration, which has been trying to shepherd a deal to shift control of the Chinese-owned app to an American company, is “fully aware” of AppLovin’s interest in TikTok, the sources said.
Faber said, based on his reporting, that it is unclear whether any of the U.S. parties interested in TikTok will be able to take control of the non-Chinese part of the company’s business.
AppLovin shares briefly popped around 5% following the news, but have since given up most of those gains. AppLovin did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
TikTok could be effectively banned in the U.S. on April 5 because of a national security law originally signed by former President Joe Biden that requires Chinese parent ByteDance to divest the app’s American operations. ByteDance originally faced a Jan. 19 deadline to sell TikTok, but Trump signed an executive order instructing the attorney general to not enforce the law, granting the company 75 more days to unload the U.S. portion of its business.
