Donald Trump says US buyers ready to buy TikTok, hints deadline extension

President Donald Trump announced on Friday (August 22) that he has American buyers ready to acquire TikTok, and he is open to extending the deadline for its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app’s US assets. Speaking to reporters, Trump stated he has no privacy or security concerns regarding the platform and has yet to discuss the matter with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to news agency Reuters.The news comes as TikTok faces a separate challenge in the UK. The company is planning to lay off hundreds of staff in the region who are responsible for moderating content, BBC reported. This move, according to a company spokesperson, is part of a “reorganisation” to centralise its operations and increase its reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) for moderation. The spokesperson told the publication that the work would be relocated to other European offices.TikTok maintains that its investment in AI will “maximise effectiveness and speed,” noting that its automated systems, including AI, already remove 85% of content that violates its rules. The company says this shift also helps reduce how often human moderators are exposed to distressing content.The layoffs will affect the Trust and Safety team in London, as well as hundreds of other workers in the same department in various parts of Asia. TikTok stated that impacted employees would be given priority for other internal roles if they meet the minimum requirements.This decision has drawn criticism from the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents the affected employees. CWU National Officer for Tech, John Chadfield, called the move an example of “corporate greed over the safety of workers and the public.” He added that the cuts were announced just as workers were preparing to vote on union recognition.Chadfield warned that TikTok staff have “long been sounding the alarm” about the risks of replacing human moderators with “immature AI alternatives.”