Twitter has become the latest major company to be revealed as having an interest in buying part of TikTok’s operations, just a week after Microsoft publicly acknowledged its talks with Chinese-owned app’s owner, ByteDance.  

Twitter has entered into preliminary talks with TikTok about a possible “combination”, which would include TikTok’s UK business, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Microsoft still remains the front-runner in any possible acquisition of a portion of TikTok’s, due to the fact that Twitter is a far smaller company than Microsoft and may not have the funds go through with a deal. At the same time, this could mean Twitter facing less scrutiny from antitrust regulators.

It’s not clear if Twitter would be looking to acquire any parts of TikTok’s business beyond its US operations, but Microsoft is looking to claim the app’s US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand businesses.

Either way, neither company has very long to complete talks with ByteDance.  

Last week, President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders for individuals and companies to stop doing business with TikTok and fellow popular Chinese app WeChat by Sunday 20 September.  

In response, TikTok said it was “shocked” by the decision and would “pursue all remedies available” to fight against the decision.