Reports from the  WSJ  also suggested that Twitter  (NYSE:TWTR)  held preliminary talks about a potential combination with TikTok (BDNCE). Twitter would be a long shot vs. much-bigger TikTok suitor Microsoft  (NASDAQ:MSFT), which is further along in talks and would have an easier time funding a deal that could run into tens of billions of dollars .

Another  WSJ  article said Qualcomm  (NASDAQ:QCOM)  was lobbying Washington to  roll back an export ban  on Huawei, claiming the moves would hand foreign competitors a market worth as much as $8B annually.

Microsoft, which announced on Aug 2 that it was pursuing a deal with TikTok for its operations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, said it was told by President Donald Trump to make a deal by Sept 15.

Twitter, because of its relatively smaller size, also has privately made a case that its bid would face less regulatory scrutiny than Microsoft’s and will not face pressure from China because it is not active there, a source said.

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