ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, has earmarked over 150 billion yuan ($20.64 billion) in capital expenditure for this year, much of which will be centred on artificial intelligence, two people briefed on the matter said.

Donaldson posted a jokey message on X on January 13 that read, "Okay fine, I'll buy Tik Tok so it doesn't get banned." A day later,

Unless its owner agrees to sell, TikTok will be banned in the U.S. on Jan. 19. Here's how to download your account if no one buys the app.

TikTok is no longer available in the United States —at least for now. But it’s not the only ByteDance-owned app that’s currently blocked for US-based users.

James "Jimmy" Donaldson, known as MrBeast on YouTube, made an offhand comment to X this week, saying he'd buy TikTok so it doesn't get banned.

While TikTok remains hugely popular in Brazil, Indonesia and other markets, its 170 million users in the United States are its most valuable.

With no Supreme Court ruling on TikTok today, tensions are high. The wildly popular social media platform owned by China's ByteDance could shut down in the U.S. on Jan. 19 – just four days from now — or sell itself to an entity Stateside if the Justices do not rule otherwise.

This significant investment demonstrates ByteDance's commitment to becoming a major player in the global AI landscape, even as the company grapples with uncertainty surrounding TikTok's future in the United States.

Chinese ByteDance plans a $20 billion capital expenditure in 2025, mainly targeting AI as the tech giant seeks to defend its AI lead back home.

TikTok was banned and restored within the same weekend. Find out what other apps owned by ByteDance, are in limbo below.

YouTube star MrBeast has confirmed that he’s making an official bid to purchase TikTok after the ban briefly went dark in the US.