Bytedance

A source close to the Malaysian branch of the company told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) that more than 500 employees were terminated.

According to Bloomberg, proceeds of the deal will be partly used to refinance an existing $5 billion dual-tranche facility the group had raised in 2021.

The plan also aims to turn Malaysia into a regional AI hub.

Teten Masduki, the Indonesian minister for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), told reporters that TikTok still had not complied with the regulation.

Tik Tok is said to have agreed broadly to work with GoTo’s Tokopedia across several areas rather than compete directly with the Indonesian platform.

ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok is said to be in the process of obtaining an e-commerce permit in Indonesia, local media Antara reported.

Indonesia is also among the first countries in Southeast Asia to push back against TikTok. Following the Indonesia restrictions, nearby Malaysia also said it is studying the possibility of regulating TikTok and its e-commerce operations.

The government said the move, which takes effect immediately, is aimed at protecting offline merchants and marketplaces, adding that predatory pricing on social media platforms is threatening small and medium-sized enterprises.

"What the people are expecting is that the advancement of technology can create new economic potential, not kill existing economies," Jokowi said.

Singapore turning into major hub for Chinese tech giant.